The speaker describes themselves as a troll, a creature of anger, shaking as they read or listen to the news. The title, "News junkie," suggests someone who keeps coming back to the headlines even though they hurt. What the news brings is "the heavy loss" and, in the same breath, "the greatness of the world." Grief and wonder arrive together, and the speaker seems to have no way of separating them.
Then the poem turns. The word "But" shifts attention from the news to the land itself, which the speaker hears as a voice with "her old pain." The speaker admits they haven't known that pain. That confession is humbling: all the anger and trembling is small beside something far older. The mood is unsettled at first, then quieter and more reflective. The poem seems to say that following every headline may make us loud and upset, but it doesn't mean we truly understand what the world has endured.