The 101 has reached another stage on it's journey!

A Staffordshire Poem A Week #15: The 101 (Stone – Hanley)
Posted on January 9, 2017 by staffordshirepoetIn conjunction with Staffordshire County Council, current poet laureate, Bert Flitcroft has started a Staffordshire poetry collection. The idea is to help create a cultural identity for Staffordshire by creating a picture of the county in words and art. The poems come from whole range of different people from former poet laureates to ordinary people all over the county.
Week #15 features a poem by June Palmer about the 101 bus from Stone to Hanley and its glamorous passengers.______________________________________________________________________
The 101 (Stone – Hanley)
From this small town
to a city centre, in the centre of nowhere,
with pouts and frowns
girls wait for the 101
their legs exposed and white as February,
longing to be gone.

Octoberish winds slam
the dressed-for-summer party wenches
in their Primark glam.
Shop-window kittens
huddled behind piss-stinky Perspex
their futures written.

Giggling and mewling,
pushing onto the sweat-fugged bus.
Some old lecher drooling
as they tamp out fags
on cheap fake red-soled stillies;
clutching clubbing bags.

Result! Limbs morphed to rubber
iPhone dropped down toilet in Sugarmills,
sit kerbside and blubber
in gutter-bare feet.
Mates chain-link arms for safety
past the police presence up Trinity Street.
 – June Palmer
BLOG POST COURTESY STAFFORDSHIRE POET LAUREATE