Ranunculus Repens

Jesse Breite

At the foot of the field, 

I see their small armies

of light, yellow eyelids

opening toward the sun, 

almost begging for 

attention, bitter to 

the taste, poisonous,

and invasive. Sure, 

it’s my father’s birthday—

I need to be getting home,  

but these little pets 

get all my attention. 

When I walk over such

ground, I traverse astral

flowers in green-

brushed skies, and now, 

I see them by virtue

of their Latin namesake, 

not as bull toads, Heaney’s 

great slime kings come 

back, but little frogs, 

harmless in their constant 

spring. I feel the slight 

feet cold, webbed, barely 

traceable covering my 

toes, up to my ankles.

No way, you could be 

vengeance—no way, 

buttercup, crowfoot, 

my darling creeper.

*Ranunculus repens is the creeping buttercup. Ranunculus is a diminutive of 'rana', meaning 'little frog,' and refers to the amphibious habitat of many Ranunculus species.

JESSE BREITE’s recent poetry has appeared in The Chattahoochee Review, Tar River Poetry, Fourteen Hills, and Rhino. Read more.