Max Reif's poem responds to violence by stepping back and looking at the human condition as a whole. The title points to Sri Lanka, but the poem never describes an attack. It begins with people so desperate that they think mass murder might fix their problems or bring revenge, then asks how the world survives at all, with billions of lives pressing together alongside so much ignorance.
The speaker's tone is troubled but not bitter. The image of the sun returning each day, patient with us, offers a small, steady comfort. The poem then lists different ways of living: some in guarded wealth, some in quiet simplicity, many just coping. In the last stanzas it turns personal. We rush to our appointments, and any of us could be caught in an exploding building. The speaker's answer is calm rather than angry: if we're wise, we'll be ready even for that. The mood is sober, reflective, and quietly hopeful.