Two kinds of chill meet in this short poem: frost on the fields and the "dead hand of the state" in the news. The title, "Deadening," ties them together. The cold outside and the grip of government both feel like something that dulls and stiffens life.
The second stanza shows how the speakers respond. "We go out to get high" sounds like an escape, a way of stepping out of the bad news. The line "miss most of the words" can be read two ways: they lose track of what is being said on the news, or they simply can't keep hold of language at all while intoxicated. Either way, the numbness is chosen. The "moonshine in a sack" gives the scene a homemade, slightly outlaw feel, as if the escape is small, rural and a bit defiant.
The mood is wry and tired rather than angry. The speaker doesn't protest. They shrug and step outside, and the poem leaves us wondering whether that is relief or surrender.