Slashes of light dot along the wet black road,
bus windows’ reflections like quick photos.
Boys on the back seat (tang of sharp aftershaves)
talk Tik Tok titles, reckon their teams.
The girls together
give off a mixed heady scent –
lily of the valley, rose, orchid,
trace of spice, enticing oils.
Silent, blended, their perfume wafts across.
All these hopes hit town at once –
the Saturday-night bus route
past the herringbone pattern
of parked cars on the wide main street;
five pubs to choose from,
the weekly stops.