"Pink Dog"

"Tonight you simply can't afford to be a-
n eyesore. But no one will ever see a
dog in mascara this time of year.
Ash Wednesday'll come but Carnival is here.
What sambas can you dance? What will you wear?"

"Pink Dog" by Elizabeth Bishop was a very interesting poem.  I not quite sure if I interpreted it correctly and I interpreted in two ways.  At first, I thought the dog might represent an outcast in society.  I thought it represented a person who would not wear a costume or mask for the festival  of Rio de Janerio.  Then I read it again and just thought the dog was a dog.  I felt like the speaker felt sorry for the dog because the poem said the dog look intelligent even though it was sick and people looked down on it. I also thought that the speaker feared that people would throw the dog in the river like they do with beggars.  His solution to helping the dog was the dress up and no one would notice it was sick. I am not sure if either of my interpretations is right, but that is what I got out of this poem.