(Grandad all you bought was the air)

.„and excepting and reserving all the coal

and other minerals

and other substances

on, in,  and underlying said land

together with the right

of removing and taking away

the coal and other minerals

and other substances

from adjoining and adjacent land

through any openings

and the right to occupy

as may  be necessary or convenient for mining purposes

without reservation or hinderance

and  with proper rights to ventilation

and draining the mines

and all rights

of ingress, regress, or way

and the privilege of constructing

operating and maintaining railroads

and other roads

in, on, under, across, through and over the land

without being in any way liable

for any injury or damage which may be done to the land

or water therein upon

and generally free, clear and discharged

of and from all servitude to the land

whatsoever

Note:  This is a found poem.  Even if it sounds as if it might be a parody of a rapacious and overbearing mining company, it is the actual language from a severance deed, selling the surface of the land and keeping the coal and everything that might go with it.  The poem was found and put into this form by poet Bob Henry Baber.