The Bank

The Bank

“I promise to pay

The bearer on demand”

Is signed beneath

With sloping hand,

And on this vow

We place our trust,

Not because we can

But because we must;

For in exchange

Of goods or labour, 

We treat the stranger

As our neighbour,

And on such 

A promissory bill,

We come to judge

They bear no ill,

And so, upon, 

These good intentions,

We build a set

Of new conventions,

Of loans and transfers

Accounts and debts,

The system builds

On gives and gets,

So, watch these

Notes of promise grow,

To make return, 

On what they owe,

And place your faith

In trusted hands,

The rock on which

This very building

Stands.