deepundergroundpoetry.com
The Traffic Hermit
Besieged by schoolboy stones, recalled
Ricochet of El Alamein artillery,
Desert rats wearing ties and trainers.
The Gods of his everyday mourning
Sweep shrapnel beside road signs,
Each destination arrives at solitude.
Trams drudge along Gdansk streets, as
Vodka dribbling from mouth to (bottle)neck,
Shipyard cranes genuflect to hunchbacked sky.
Placed his furniture foetus into a pram
Cradled solace in petrichor and petrol fumes,
In morning mist, swinging incense,
He broke bread to feed birds and himself.
Jozef raised his throat to the wind
And sang for the final time,
He thought the lights of a truck
Were the weeping eyes of Christ.
Ricochet of El Alamein artillery,
Desert rats wearing ties and trainers.
The Gods of his everyday mourning
Sweep shrapnel beside road signs,
Each destination arrives at solitude.
Trams drudge along Gdansk streets, as
Vodka dribbling from mouth to (bottle)neck,
Shipyard cranes genuflect to hunchbacked sky.
Placed his furniture foetus into a pram
Cradled solace in petrichor and petrol fumes,
In morning mist, swinging incense,
He broke bread to feed birds and himself.
Jozef raised his throat to the wind
And sang for the final time,
He thought the lights of a truck
Were the weeping eyes of Christ.
Published 3rd Dec 2022
Author's Note
ERULGCT 166. Jozef Stawinoga was a popular figure to the people of Wolverhampton, England. He lived in a tent on a grassed island in the middle of the Ring Road for well over 40 years until his death in 2007. Local Sikhs and Hindus even began to honour him as a Holy Man. The Polish national, Gdansk native, fought against the Soviet Invasion of Poland in 1939 & became an English POW in Egypt. Moved to England in the late 1940s. He held various jobs, before eventually putting all his possessions in a pram and taking up residence on the Ring Road. Found dead in his tent at 86.
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The author encourages honest critique.
4th Dec 2022 00:24am
interesting bloke, by the sound of it. does “fought against the soviet invasion of poland in 1939” meant he sided with the nazis? I only ask, because polish pilots were fighting in the air in spitfires and hurricanes against the nazis. of course, history’s complicated, but didn’t the german invasion of poland in 1939 start the second world war, albeit helped by the nazi soviet pact?
4th Dec 2022 10:58am
He fought for the Nazis mate and was part of Rommel's mob in Egypt. He suffered from what we now know is PTSD. I've strong associations with Wolver and he just became part of the scenery.
8th Dec 2022 1:27am
The scene is amazingly succinct and imbued, the emotional resonance is exquisite.
8th Dec 2022 11:16am
Many thanks my friend. The acceptance of his presence and non-judgemental reaction of the powers-that-be was truly heartwarming. There's a slim book by Edith Sitwell (an eccentric herself) 'English Eccentrics' which offers an historical account of hermit behaviour. It's well worth a read.
