Beauty crowds me till I die,
It follows me everyday, every night, everywhere.
I can feel it watching, waiting...knowing,
that I know it's following.
It's disconcerting I find, to know it's everywhere.
I can smell it in the tree's, the wind, the crowds;
of people standing in small clusters, talking of the world around them.
The beauty, it's in colour, light, sound;
the way the world spins round and round.
It's found in rhyme, poems and books;
where the imagination breaks free and all I see.
Is beauty.
It's always there, in the strangest of places.
Street corners, where people gather;
to listen to beauty, simple and sweet, from the violin of a homeless man.
This is the beauty I've been talking about,
the kind most don't understand.
To know this kind of beauty is to suffocate in it;
to drown and panic and know that you can never escape it.
But you want to understand it, in an inexplicable way.
I can tell you though, if you want to know this beauty;
speak without talking, look without seeing and hear without listening.
To do this you need to heighten your senses and understand the world;
know that beauty will be with you until there is beauty no more.
Beauty is with me,
is crowds me.
And I suffocate under the knowledge;
that I will never see it.
I will never see the colours, the trees, the music;
words of poems and books elude me.
So I will listen, and touch, and speak.
But most of all I will look without seeing.
I am blind, but beauty crowds me.

Dear Santa: from Allison

December 24th, 2009

Allison Collingwood

254 Forrest Brook Drive Depp Town

Canada HUG HJM

Santa Claus

Chief Toymaker

321 Candy Cane Lane

North Pole HOH OHO

Dear Santa,

I'd like to start this letter with the comment, that i am a Good Girl. Now you may have several reasons to contradict this statement. But let me tell you now Santa. It's all lies. Every. Single. One.

Trust me, I would know.

In fact, I have been nicer than most kids on the very top of your nice list. I clean the house, look after the dogs, mow the lawn, clean the pool, do the dishes, keep my room nice and tidy, and of course maintain my always perfect work ethic both at home and at school, which leads to my exceptional grades. I know you may be thinking, 'then why on my list, does it say that Allison never cleans the house, could care less about the dogs, lets the lawn become over run with exotic plants and weeds, if anything contributes to the grime of the pool by tossing in her cat, lets the dishes pile up, keeps her room to the expectations of a pig pen, and also has a very low... oh wait no her work ethic is good.' Let me tell you Santa. I may have had a few rough moments this year. And there may have been long periods of time between room cleanings. But this was all do to my overload of extracurricular activities. Which of course, all better the community in one way or another.

Take my dance for example, you may think this is just a personal activity, but no. When I have performances, I better mankind with my amazing displays of skin. Because I'm a belly dancer, and that's what I do, and people love me for it.

And so Santa, because I'm obviously a very good person, I would ask you for only two things this Christmas.

In order to explain why I want these two things, I think you might need some background on my longtime love of Johnny Depp and Hugh Jackman.

For you see Santa, no one has every loved a man, as much as I love these two actors. Ask any of my friends, they'll tell you, no ones love runs as deep as Allisons does for Johnny Depp and Hugh Jackman. And let me just divulge a small piece of information about how to speak Hugh Jackman's name. You cant just say "Oh there's that actor Hugh Jackman" you have to stress the 'ooh' sound of Hugh, and the 'ack' of Jackman in order to properly pronounce this incredible mans name. So instead of just Hugh Jackman, you now say it as. Huuuuugh Jaaacccckkkkkman

I accept your thanks on this mispronunciation correction.

Oh, but I got a little off topic there.

Back to those two things I want. Johnny Depp and Hugh Jackman. I would prefer if they were tied, gagged, and packaged in large decorative boxes that have enough air holes to ensure their survival until about seven o clock am Christmas morning. This is the time that I will bolt from my bedroom as if I was escaping from hell itself in order to dive beneath the tree and unwrap the very large packages that I know you have certainly brought me.

Now you may think that this is a very strange request Santa. But as I have been a very good person, I'm sure you agree, that these two wonderful actors will be much better off living with me then making movies.

So Santa, in closing. I thank you in advance for my two gifts and look forward to writing you again next year with a similar request, after all. There are many more wonderful actors out there.

Yours truly,

Allison