Berryman: Staring Down The Barrell Of A 45

I like how in this poem we get two levels of what is happening: the level of physicality where the poet is undergoing life experiences is obviously present, but their is also a continual metaphysical encounter with Ruin through each of these experiences. My favorite example of this comes from stanza 1:

Ruin stared straight back.
He thought they was old friends. He felt on the stair
where her papa found them bare
they became familiar.

Does 'they' in line 2 refer to the poet and Ruin, or has the poet already moved on to discussing his relationship with this girl? In line 3 it seems clear it's the girl being spoken of. Yet, in line 4, we read that "they became familiar." Once again, is this he and the girl, or are we back to describing his relationship with Ruin again? This doubleness runs throughout the poem.

I also like the language of Ruin 'making amends' (line 16), since that's usually a positive phrase. Ironically, though, what might be thought of as Final Ruin (Death?) is in this case making amends for his earlier incarnations not finishing the job.

Finally, I wish to state that a great song for this poem would be Shinedown's 45.