Shapes of Clay

by Ambrose Bierce

THE LORD'S PRAYER ON A COIN

THE LORD'S PRAYER ON A COIN.

Upon this quarter-eagle's leveled face,
The Lord's Prayer, legibly inscribed, I trace.
"Our Father which"--the pronoun there is funny,
And shows the scribe to have addressed the money--
"Which art in Heaven"--an error this, no doubt:
The preposition should be stricken out.
Needless to quote; I only have designed
To praise the frankness of the pious mind
Which thought it natural and right to join,
With rare significancy, prayer and coin.