In Praise of Rhizomes

by Annette Sisson

In Praise of Rhizomes

The rhizome . . . assumes . . . diverse forms, from ramified surface extension in all directions to concretion into bulbs and tubers.

~ Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus

They sprawl, heedless of the cultivated plants—

dahlias and calla lilies, scalloped-edged 

dianthus. Rhizomes break the rules, 

devise new ones, burst forth

diverse and pluralistic, proliferate endlessly.

Creeping charlie weaves through the garden, 

vines dotted with tubular flowers. 

Still, I trowel those tangles, stolons 

ripping away from surface while below, 

rooted to nodes, the tiniest fragment

girds itself to re-sprout. Meanwhile

Japanese honeysuckle uncurls tendrils 

in the back yard, chokes understory 

seedlings, snakes up bark and branch 

as clumps of bearded iris adorn 

the stone wall along the drive, 

their plots not yet overgrown. And so,

I celebrate rhizomes—their self-propagation, 

boundless chains of life, horizontal

stems just beneath the soil line.

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Annette Sisson

Annette Sisson’s poems appear in The Penn Review, Birmingham Poetry Review, Rust & Moth, Citron Review, Cumberland River Review, and many other journals and anthologies. Her second book, Winter Sharp with Apples, was published by Terrapin Books in 2024. Her first book, Small Fish in High Branches, was published by Glass Lyre Press in 2022. Last year one of her poems was a finalist for the Charles Simic Poetry Prize and two of were nominated for The Pushcart Prize. In 2025 her poems were finalists in River Heron Review’s and Passager Book’s annual poetry prizes.