Tomography by Joanna Lilley

July 12, 2023
Poem title: Tomography Poet name: Joanna Lilley Poem: I saw the geography of my brain today, slid my eyes across glaciers, folds of monochromatic floes, the white of air or bone, looking for the detonator. Scrolling through eye sockets, ear caves, a thick white cornice of skull. Such flimsy vertebrae. I reverse my apprehension: a bleed would be white not black. Walking back to work across the ice-edged, straitened river, a dark, swift flow to die for, my windward cheekbone aches in minus thirty chill. I like the winter shrink of wayward vessels, the restrictive fit of the child-sized hat I bought deliberately. I never saw inside my mother’s head. I scanned her eyes instead to see the aftermath, the endless blue always above the weather. End of poem. Credits and bio: Copyright © Joanna Lilley Previously published in IceFloe Press website (2020). Joanna Lilley lives in Whitehorse, Yukon, with gratitude on the Traditional Territories of Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council. Her latest poetry book, Endlings, won the Fred Kerner Book Award; her first poetry book, The Fleece Era, was a finalist for the Fred Cogswell Award for Excellence in Poetry; and her novel Worry Stones was longlisted for the Caledonia Novel Award. The author of five books, Joanna has a master’s degree in creative writing from the Universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow and a postgraduate certificate in creative writing from the Humber School for Writers. Joanna loves sharing the joy of words and has given readings and workshops as far afield as Alaska and Iceland. In 2021, she received Commissioner of Yukon’s Borealis Prize for literary contribution. Find Joanna online at www.joannalilley.com