The birds are silent in their nest and I must seek for mine

The gods of the earth and sea
Sought through nature to find this tree,
But their search was all in vain:
There grows one in the human Brain.

I read Skellig by David Almond yesterday and found a short, beautiful text about how one measures a life. Caught somewhere between imagination and fantasy, I began to wonder why it isn't more real. Throughout the text, a young girl teaches the narrator about William Blake's poetry, but also offers him insight about open school and the free education of the natural world. She doesn't attend structured classrooms and she ridicules those who do. One day the narrator's teachers drops off the work he missed from staying home to learn with his new friend and the little girl points out exactly what is wrong with school. He is to chart the bones and muscles on a worksheet, but she wonders why he's never taught about the soul. I like this kid, and Almond's text is rich for many reasons -- it's one to be read a couple of times. Attached above are images of Blake's with music. Good ol' YouTube, baby.