Ontology

perhaps one must begin small 

as a grass seedling 

or yet a speck of sand 

grain of a grain of glass 

catching on its corner 

a shred of daylight 

as the busy flights 

of creatures brush the air

with their tree tones 

& webbed wings 

which they rub together 

to make events 

of sound & touch. 

if one is to wake 

without fear

feeling the nearness 

of the dying world

stopping to observe six deer

tilting one’s ear

toward the staccato 

of their hooves

in the pine 

like falling stones

their faces frightened 

& kind see how 

their heads dip 

to find the ground 

beneath the cavern chest 

where live their hearts

let me too drop down 

from here & move 

mouth low & heavy

as theirs, as mine.

---

janan alexandra is the author of the poetry collection come from. The recipient of support from the Mellon Foundation, the Fulbright program, the Vermont Studio Center, and the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, janan is a 2025 Djanikian Scholar in Poetry and winner of the 2023 Adrienne Rich Award. She currently teaches at Indiana University and at the Monroe County Correctional Center, edits poetry at The Rumpus, and helps curate MONDAYS ARE FREE, a Substack collaboration between BFF poets Ross Gay and Pat Rosal. janan was born in Nicosia, Cyprus, in the month of May.