Jaymee Goh

Assimilation

When the batik rains fall,
put out the wax bins to trap the colour.
Wear your new white linens and silks,
and your best dancing flats.
The winter hinterlands will bloom spring,
the snows become coconut milk
and sugarcane honey in tandem.
When your skin tans irrevocably
into fingerprint swirls,
then, you will be one of us.

Jaymee Goh is a poet, writer, editrix, critic and academic from Malaysia.