Jess

Cartoon Physics, part 1
By Nick Flynn

Children under, say, //ten//, shouldn't know that the universe is ever-expanding, inexorably pushing into the vacuum, galaxies

swallowed by galaxies, whole

solar systems collapsing, all of it acted out in silence. At ten we are still learning

the rules of cartoon animation,

that if a man draws a door on a rock only he can pass through it. Anyone else who tries

will crash into the rock. Ten-year-olds should stick with burning houses, car wrecks, ships going down—earthbound, tangible

disasters, arenas

where they can be heroes. You can run back into a burning house, sinking ships

have lifeboats, the trucks will come with their ladders, if you jump

you will be saved. A child

places her hand on the roof of a schoolbus, & drives across a city of sand. She knows

the exact spot it will skid, at which point the bridge will give, who will swim to safety & who will be pulled under by sharks. She will learn

that if a man runs off the edge of a cliff he will not fall

until he notices his mistake.