Pink Dogs?

The poem "Pink Dog" was confusing to me the first time I read it. After I read it again and we discussed it in our small group, I grasped it somewhat better, but not to its entirety. The main thing I understood about the poem is that Bishop speaks of Carnival, the Brazilian celebration much like Mardi Gras. I caught onto this because of 1)the mention of Rio de Janeiro and 2) the mentions of "Ash Wednesday will come" as well as "dress up! dress up and dance at Carnival!" When my group established this, we dug a little further and figured that the poem is criticizing society. We believed it was speaking of the different aspects within a society (changing appearances, staying true to oneself, etc.) that Bishop saw. I thought too, that she was chastising society's need to have beautiful appearances. Hopefully, I come to have a better understanding of this poem. Right now, I think there it is too busy for me to truly comprehend.