The television
in the other room
is showing a cartoon

and from it I can hear the screams
of angry and humiliated people,
sounding more real

than any news cast
would allow them to sound
if they were screaming something real.

Never mind living large.
Better to say we’re living loud.
Better to say we’re all cartoons.

Better to say slow down and shut down
a little.  Whoever wants us to live at full volume
is hoping we drown something else out — 

maybe a hum from the undermining, or a dull roar
from things collapsing one after the other.
A savagery beginning to bubble and burst.

I’m shutting that TV down.  I’m going outside
to see what’s hiding in plain sight,
living without having to be turned on.

If we hold hands we can go together.
Here’s the open palm — please take hold.
You don’t have to say a word.