What must we burn for the sake of Wednesday’s ashes?
Now and again I have a vision of the Park on fire; all in flames; flickering; burnt.
My own desire, maybe; inflaming; using up, what I love.
Only a thing imagined, but now comes real news that I’ve feared: the Asian Longhorned Beetle has been found in the Park. This could be the worst thing to happen to the place in my time. Many beetles and boring insects infest trees. The pattern above was made by one such, its larvae dispersing from a central egg gallery. Most of these bugs are secondary invaders of damaged or diseased hosts, but the Asian Longhorn attacks healthy trees, especially Maples, ultimately killing them. This invasive species first appeared on Long Island in the mid nineties, and it’s progress towards the Park has been foreseen. Tree-by-tree checking has been practiced in recent years, finally revealing two infested specimens. The only treatment seems to be cutting the tree and burning it to destroy the embedded larvae. In some smaller city parks, including one in my neighborhood, this has meant the removal of virtually every Maple. It’s hard to imagine that happening in Central Park, and I hope they won’t do wholesale prophylactic cutting, but if there are two instances of infestation, there are likely to be more. The Norway Maple, itself derided as an invasive species, is the pest’s favorite victim, and one of the most numerous trees in the Park. There have been efforts to stop them from reproducing, but the removal of all the mature trees would leave a grievous wound.

So this is the prospect for Lent:
a forest of blasted trees,
and Spring a long, hard holiday away.