Powerless this time to shelter or to share

we strive to be objective, try to trace

the match that lit this sacrificial fire
the steps by which we reached this ravaged place.
We talk of Forty Eight and Fifty Six,
of freedom and the treacherous politics
of language; see the first sparks of this hate
fanned into flame in Nineteen Fifty Eight,
yet find no comfort in our neat solution,
no calm abstraction, and no absolution.

The second stanza takes on a historical perspective of the ethnic conflict. It begins with the phrase
"Powerless this time to shelter or to share". This means at times of riots like this people are gripped by
fear and suspicion which makes them "helpless" in a sense. They find it difficult to "shelter or share".
Here shelter means providing shelter to the victims of violence which can become a risky affair. The poet
then begins to trace the history of the so called "match" or the "sacrificial fire". He recounts "Forty
Eight" and "Fifty six". He talks sarcastically about the "freedom and the treacherous politics of
language". What he refers to here is the declaring of the Sinhala only policy by S.W.R.D. Bandaranayake
in 1956 which discriminated against the Tamil speaking community in Sri Lanka, especially in Jaffna.

According to the poet "The game's in other hands". In other words, The political game has been
transferred to the public who started to play havoc with the "freedom" granted to them by the
government authorities. "factory and hovel" are set on fire, turning everything into chaos. He compares
it to a "Big Match" which promised "dizzier scores" played at the Oval Grounds than any match before.