I've always assumed that D.A. (Davina but don't know what the 'A' stands for) and Alison are different ladies, but can't be certain. They're both exceptionally good poets...or one exceptionally good poet perhaps...I've never questioned it till now, John. George might know.

Nope. I know now. They are different people. Alison Prince is a children's writer - as well as a poet.

Quite apart from the solidarity we share as fellow members of the Gender-Ambiguous Names Club, my hat is off to D.A. Prince for achieving what I could not in this competition. One of my unsuccessful entries used "Chapman's Homer" as its jumping-off point ("Much have I puttered in the realm of chores"), but it evidently didn't jump very far.