Dave Bonta's "Chatterbox" is only three short lines, but it captures a strange and very human reaction to bad news. On a day of tragedy, you might expect silence. Instead, the speaker notices that words "dance out / of the mouth," as if speech has taken on a life of its own.
The word "dance" is the surprising choice. Dancing suggests lightness, movement, even celebration, which clashes with the heaviness of "tragedy." That clash is the heart of the poem. The speaker seems to watch their own talking with a bit of unease, as though the words are escaping without permission. Judging by the title, they may be a nervous chatterer, filling the air to avoid facing what has happened.
The mood is quiet, uneasy, and a little ashamed. Nothing is explained, and we never learn what the tragedy was. That gap lets us fill in our own experience of rambling, joking, or over-talking when we are shaken and don't know what else to do.