Cartoon Physics, Part 2

As the first generation 
brought up on a diet 
of cocoa puffs and 
Saturday morning cartoons, 
is it any wonder 
we expect the air 
to hold us 
when we walk 
blithely off a cliff? 

We don't need 
to watch for anvils 
and grand pianos 
being tipped out above 
our innocent heads, 
because even if 
we're crushed beneath them, 
we expect to peel ourselves 
off the ground and pop 
back into shape 
with no more than a shake 
and judder of the limbs. 

And so we stretch ourselves 
past our limits, take risks 
no sane grownup 
would accept, 
look google-eyed at a world 
that's not meant to bend 
and curve to our whims, 
allow our hearts to 
go hubba-hubba half 
bursting out of our chests 
but then gush and splatter 
over a calamity so vast 
tha-tha-that’s all folks 
suddenly takes on 
epic and tragic proportions.