(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.