I have never watched an episode of “I Love Lucy,” and this homage to Desi Amaz makes me feel like I am missing out on essential American mythology. The contrast between studio hilarity and marital misery is very effective. The speaker’s familiar tone is endearing. It is hard to get away with using “alas” in a poem in the twenty-first century, but the exclamation feels just right. The closing couplet is particularly strong.
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