{"id":4618,"date":"2025-04-19T00:58:17","date_gmt":"2025-04-19T04:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/spire\/?p=4618"},"modified":"2025-04-22T01:44:13","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T05:44:13","slug":"mcdonald","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/spire\/2025\/04\/19\/mcdonald\/","title":{"rendered":"Snag"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>By Ella McDonald<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes you will come across a dead tree,<br>a skeletal landmark in the spring forest\u2013<br>its whitegrey trunk exaggerated with age<br>next to the new growth of the nearby maple<br><br>If you are quiet enough, you\u2019ll watch the forest<br>come to visit\u2014<br>pick up their gifts and pay their respects.<br><br>Hidden from view you\u2019ll hear the wood borer larvae<br>squeaking morbidity from their mandibles,<br>fattening themselves in their slow circuits<br><br>Or hear the harbinger hammering of a woodpecker<br>exploring for the end of the feeding gallery<br>before, in a flash of red, he moves on<br><br>And notice the understory has all gathered around in prayer<br>where sunlight has enlivened a spotlight of new green mess,<br>leaves twitching upward.<br><br>Here I am too, soaking in the possibilities<br>and celebration of this death, this opening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Ella McDonald \u00a0 Sometimes you will come across a dead tree,a skeletal landmark in the spring forest\u2013its whitegrey trunk exaggerated with agenext to the new growth of the nearby maple If you are quiet enough, you\u2019ll watch the forestcome to visit\u2014pick up their gifts and pay their respects. Hidden from view you\u2019ll hear the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2556,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spire-2025-issue"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Snag - The Maine Journal of Conservation and Sustainability - University of Maine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/spire\/2025\/04\/19\/mcdonald\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Snag - The Maine Journal of Conservation and Sustainability - University of Maine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Ella McDonald \u00a0 Sometimes you will come across a dead tree,a skeletal landmark in the spring forest\u2013its whitegrey trunk exaggerated with agenext to the new growth of the nearby maple If you are quiet enough, you\u2019ll watch the forestcome to visit\u2014pick up their gifts and pay their respects. 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