A Hollow Tree Poem by Showkat Ahmad Wani

How long a hollow tree shall stand a strong
And hasty wind when opts to root it out?
A hitch! __ if worms beneath incise the veins,
And birds above consume the autumn fruit,
His every twig perceives hum of steel.
And stem that respires smoke of children's hearth,
The poor! With ghastly suffer tallies time
Of death, ___ At feet a newly tender shoot
In merry waves birth of green; and tree__
He grins to spot before his falling down.