I like this alot. Re the last 2 lines: I like the standing dead definition from MW - these are dead branches, not referring to the people in the city at all. The speaker is a neighboring branch, a dead twig! speaking for the bunch of them. I do agree that 'this desperate april morn' needs to be in future tense.
What I love: interesting use of (tactile, violent) nouns as verbs throughout: cocks, gall, drip, grease & spread in same line. And verb as adjective 'whipped'. Also 'shorn-/off' (with great line-break thrown in). 'festooned with deli-bags', 'cuchifrito', great image/language. in the sonnet tradition, the phrase 'anguished pair', refers to the trees almost as lovers, who face an onslaught of adversaries over the course of a year. We know just what & who these adveraires are (hence the list), because lovers throughout history must undergo these same trials. So - a comment and a wink toward the traditional love sonnet. It's all great fun!
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