In the last few verses, Berryman is a reference to the poet John Berryman, who committed suicide (as did Hemingway, also referenced). Berryman's father was also a suicide, which maybe is what Cave is gesturing towards with the line "the powder trail straight to my father's heart." The line "the waves were soldiers moving" is from the poem "Dry Loaf" by Wallace Stevens (who didn't kill himself). A good deal of that poem is excerpted near the bottom of the essay here:
In the last few verses, Berryman is a reference to the poet John Berryman, who committed suicide (as did Hemingway, also referenced). Berryman's father was also a suicide, which maybe is what Cave is gesturing towards with the line "the powder trail straight to my father's heart." The line "the waves were soldiers moving" is from the poem "Dry Loaf" by Wallace Stevens (who didn't kill himself). A good deal of that poem is excerpted near the bottom of the essay here:
colloquium.upol.cz/coll00/quinn.htm