Cut open to count the rings

[Keith]

A child-minding crow
calls out through morning mist
as it clings cold
on banks of quiet bracken.
He follows footsteps for scraps
kept hidden from the murder.

Narled oaks watch saplings take shape,Narled. Keith?
bent by the winds advice,
arthritic branches knuckle
with fingers of new growth
as mud caked wellingtons rinse
red in pathway puddles.

Twirling loss under a bare canopy
questions push speech on falling leaves
and listens to the moss covered bark
of a broken soldiers stride.
Why do these old trees survive
when all their pretty has gone and died?

Strangely evocative, Keith. Inventive verbs like "knuckle with..." are probably not for the purists, but hell, I know what it means. Punctuation IS a problem, if only for clarity...the lord giveth and the lord taketh away...but I am unsure if sans punctuation is a device in this one. Think on,Laddie.
Can't say I didn't like it but I may not read it again...that may be a good thing.
Best, 
tectak

Thank you for the Knarled feedback, I'm pleased the knuckle got across purist or not Ill have another look at punctuation. much appreciated, Keith.

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Hey Keith,
I quite like some your imagery here. I do have some thoughts though:

A child-minding crow -I love this line. The image here is original, and I wish I had thought of it.
calls out through morning mist
as it clings cold
on banks of quiet bracken.
He follows footsteps for scraps
kept hidden from the murder. -I like this stanza. However, I don't really see how this stanza connects with the rest of the poem. I would suggest thinking about connecting it to the tree imagery somehow. Maybe the crow can be in a tree? 


Narled oaks watch saplings take shape,
bent by the winds advice, -I think "winds" should have an apostrophe.
arthritic branches knuckle
with fingers of new growth-This and the previous line is wonderful imagery, and connects to your title by dealing with the theme of time.
as mud caked wellingtons rinse
red in pathway puddles. -I don't know why, but I feel like we need to know where the crow went as the child plays in the puddles.

Twirling loss under a bare canopy
questions push speech on falling leaves -Are the questions part of the wind's advice? I feel like you could explore that connection more.
and listens to the moss covered bark
of a broken soldiers stride. -I'm confused by the soldier's sudden appearance. Maybe make it a toy soldier, so it ties back to the child in the previous two stanzas?
Why do these old trees survive
when all their pretty has gone and died? -I like this question as an ending because its consistent with you theme of time set up by the title. I'm just unsure if this is one of the questions that "push speech on falling leaves".

I hope what I said is helpful, and I look forward to seeing where you take this piece from here.

Thanks for the read,
Richard

Hi Richard
Thank you for your considered reply, really appreciated all the feedback and I'll take it into the edit. Best Keith