Margaret Leong (1921-2012)
SELECTED POEMS
Casuarinas in Johore
The casuarinas form
a fretwork fleet
of bright vermilion butterflies
that fall across the beach
in orange and sudden warmth;
So, when thunder rains
come slantwise down across the sky,
their leaves unlatch
and ply like sampans down
from the damp moss-trees;
Until they’re poised below
the istana’s minarets,
like rapid fleets in a whirlpool shoal,
Or disappearing silhouettes.
by Margaret Leong
from The Air Above the Tamarinds (1957)
