Poem: 555

In 1939 the crew of a Polish submarine sailed their vessel across the Baltic into internment in Sweden...later they escaped & sailing submerged reached Britain where they joined the free Polish armed forces...

his hands lay among the napkins
that lay among the dishes
& the six silver forks
that were shaped like a star

as gelignite sweats
his hands were glistening   inside his head
a thirty year clock had almost run down

he told of the voyage of 14 Polish sailors
in an interned submarine
from Stockholm to Scapa Flow

he had filled the boat with fuel
carried through the dockyard in dark glass bottles
he had re-charged the batteries
& made the parts
that the neutral Swedes had taken

he said each man was decorated for valor
although the vessel was sunk
afterwards in Northern waters

& after the plates had been taken
& the second bottle served
the first bottle taken
the brandy ordered
his hands lay uncurled on the table
amongst six silver forks
that were shaped like a star


Dick Russell
(from Wolfprints, 1971, Workshop Press Ltd. London)

555 Battersea Park Road is now a Sushi restaurant in London.  Fifty years ago, it was simply the "555" and Stanislaus was the chef.  He and his Irish wife served great meals and my friends, and I ate there often.  On one occasion he joined us at our table and told his story.