A solitary mister
Propped between trees and water
From the opening of the garden lock
That lets the trees and water enter
Until the Sunday sombre bell at dark
Eating bread from a newspaper
Drinking water from the chained cup
That the children filled with gravel
In the fountain basin where I sailed my ship
Slept at night in a dog kennel
But nobody chained him up.
Like the park birds he came early
Like the water he sat down
And Mister they called Hey Mister
The truant boys from the town
Running when he had heard them clearly
This is difficult to interpret, but it could be linking him to nature; to the trees and the water nearby. He sits down, perhaps, because he has to settle somewhere, in the way water naturally settles. Water will always flow down to the lowest point, and metaphorically so does the hunchback.
The Hunchback in the Park