Marcescence: Poems from Gahneesah
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Description
Gahneesah is the Anglicized form of the Cherokee name for Kennesaw Mountain, from which the word Kennesaw derives. It means “burial ground” or “place of the dead.”
Kennesaw Mountain is located in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, between the towns of Kennesaw and Marietta in northern Cobb County. It was the scene of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain of the Atlanta Campaign of the Civil War, June 27, 1864. It is essentially an isolated ridge—or monandock, from the Algonquin for “lonely mountain”—consisting of three summits: Big Kennesaw, Little Kennesaw, and Pigeon Hill.
Marcescence is a botanical term describing the retention of dead plant organs that normally are shed, as with the leaves of deciduous trees. In displaying marcescence, the leaves of a given tree, such as the beech, will wither during the winter yet remain attached to the tree until replaced by new growth.
All poems in this book are connected to the topography, real or imagined, of Gahneesah, their true country.
Publication Date
10-2014
Publisher
Finishing Line Press
City
Georgetown, KY
Keywords
kennesaw mountain, gahneesah, battle of kennesaw mountain, poetry, atlanta, marcescence
Disciplines
Poetry