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Julia Gavrilova - Fossil Black.jpg

Fokkina McDonnell – Phoenix’ Promise


Reassuringly ancient, a black-and-white blanket remedy, as salty as a lick, clicking quietly in a corner, it may be held or placed in locus. Patients may sit on it or smear it on their eyelids. It enhances the lucidity of trance and draws energy away from the feet towards the inner curlicues of greyness. It is soft for memories. It does not alarm prayer or alert vermin. It is true to a sweet syllable. It can be purchased here at the Pantheon. A discreet discount is available for those who have never

Fokkina McDonnell has two poetry collections (Oversteps Books Ltd, 2016; Indigo Dreams Publishing Ltd, 2019) and a pamphlet (Grey Hen Press, 2020). Poems have been widely published and anthologized. She received a Northern Writers’ Award from New Writing North in 2020 for Remembering / Disease. Broken Sleep Books will publish the collection in late 2022.

Artwork: Fossil Black by Julia Gavrilova

Julia Gavrilova is a printmaker and surface pattern designer who grew up in Russia and now lives in Switzerland. Her creative journey started in middle school and then developed through years into what she is now. Her works are inspired by nature's basic forms, textures and colors.

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