Category: Poems by me

Bleak Midwinter in Finland (with apologies to Christina Rossetti)

First published as part of the Daily Telegraph‘s February 2008 Creative Writing Competition. It was one of the six shortlisted out of about 40 entries. As ever I did not get the first prize, but it attracted a lot of positive responses. The reason for the “lizard and gizzard”  was down to the set words you had to include in the piece for the month, which was a continual feature of the contest. This time “lizard” was one of the words. Or possibly “blizzard”. I can’t even remember which ones the other set words were!

The picture which accompanied it is one of my stills from the visit with the image of Christina Rossetti, the authoress of the original Bleak Midwinter Poem, superimposed.

With Apologies to Christina Rosetti
"With apologies to Christina Rosetti..."

1.
In this bleak midwinter,
Frosty winds beat time;
Mirth stands hard as irony,
Slaughter-like the rime.
Crow is eaten, crow on crow
Crow on corpse of crow,
In this bleak midwinter verse,
Made not long ago. Continue reading “Bleak Midwinter in Finland (with apologies to Christina Rossetti)” →

Making It So: A Memoir
4.7 out of 5 stars(4754755)
$19.59 (as of 01/11/2026 00:31 GMT +01:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Contend: Standing Boldly for Biblical Truth While Winning the War Within
4.9 out of 5 stars(495795)
$18.89 (as of 01/11/2026 00:31 GMT +01:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)

The rules, they are a-changin’

(A poem for the new decade by Viktor D. Huliganov with apologies to Dylan Thomas)

You can take all the notions you thought that you knew,
You can take all the truths you believed to be true,
And the old guarantees and your securities
And you can burn them as fuel for your engine.
You can restart your mind and your philosophies
For the rules, they are a-changin’!

The government thug in his suit and his hat
Will be taxing your earnings until they get fat
They’ll be taxing your children and taxing your cat
And your business they’ll be disarranging.
They’ll tell you what’s what and then that’ll be that
For the rules, they are a-changin’!

This new unelected fisc-alien horde
Will be taxing the pen and then taxing the sword
They’ll be taxing you far more than you can afford
As we slip into this demo-slavery
They’ll be taxing the devil and taxing the Lord
For the rules, they are a-changin’!

Don’t stick to ideas which turned out to be wrong
By foreseeing the change you can make yourself strong
You must weather this crisis, no matter how long
But your model, it needs rearranging
So remodel your moral and rewrite your song
For the rules, they are a-changing

VDH 31st December 2009.

Carl's Doomsday Scenario: Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book 2
4.7 out of 5 stars(475102298)
$17.93 (as of 01/11/2026 00:31 GMT +01:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
House of Earth and Blood: Crescent City, Book 1
4.7 out of 5 stars(475183619)
$27.48 (as of 01/11/2026 00:31 GMT +01:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)

Sonnet about David

I search the marches of my mother-tongue, 
A fitting form of sound and sense to find,
And search the vaults of meaning in my mind
To draft a verse that David might have sung.

For David, that sweet psalmist of the Lord,
Was called a man made after God’s own heart,
And this it was that sanctified his art;
That he loved God and dwelt upon His Word.

However clever be the poet’s strain,
The assonance and structure, so sublime,
How fine the rhythm, excellent the rhyme,
‘Twas none but God that gave the poet’s brain.

So let this lesser David also be
After Thine heart, and raising praise to Thee!

(29th November 1988 & 16th April 2000, Hemel Hempstead and Warsaw)

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook: Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book 3
4.6 out of 5 stars(46594747)
$22.07 (as of 01/11/2026 00:31 GMT +01:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
The Calamity Club: A Novel
4.7 out of 5 stars(47599478)
$27.63 (as of 01/11/2026 00:31 GMT +01:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)