[R.A. Briggs]

Oh, I love it! Finally, a funny one that makes me laugh. The humiliations are vividly pictured. I particularly like the aliteration of "corner cuchifrito place", which somehow sounds fried. "Burning road-salt I.V. drip" is the sort of phrase I usually denounce as modifier pile-up, but it works here, and has momentum. Rhyming "cur" with "car" is inspired. I feel that last three lines should pack a stronger punch, after all that amazing trash--"desperate April morn" feels out-of-date and not quite convincing.

Still, awesome. I'm going to have a tough time choosing between this and "Childhood". Different poems, each wonderful in its own way.