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Syntax Issue 10
Denver Syntax
{clearing the head}
  david caddy



Cock pheasant crow,
sharp and sheer,
claw by tenure
of space.

Pollen clusters
some birch-pine
others ragwort, yarrow,
thistle, wild garlic,
cling, disturb,
drift, coalesce.

Grain dots and dashes,
deposits, dance foragers
ajar among flowers
listless grasses,
searing allure of webs, nests,
snug fits in focussed alignment.

Permeating this passage rooting plants
limit tree movement leftwards
to the right a chalk stream, wind break,
blackthorn, rosehip dominated.

Breathe this clearing,
trodden Roman layers,
tree whispers, habitat,
open to light
raw and polished sounds
language of passageway, screams
rewritten under spoil
spruce, hazel covers,
stressed pulse
slip, hung over
curls.

Your smiling presence,
deftness of touch,
integrity.
Your grid.