Spectator competition winners: the Lord’s Prayer as a sonnet

In Competition No. 3290, you were invited to recast the Lord’s Prayer as a sonnet.

The late Frank Kermode reckoned that any schoolboy can write a sonnet, but this challenge was a deceptively simple one; as Nick MacKinnon observed: ‘the Lord’s Prayer is very efficient’.

Nonetheless, it drew a large and witty haul, in which some competitors chose to put more of their own spin on the original than others, making a pleasingly varied entry. Jennifer Zhou, Ann Drysdale, John Wood, George Simmers, David Silverman, Lachlan Rurlander and Simon May stood out, but the £20 prize goes to the seven below.

Our Father, Sister, Mother – gender-free
celestial deity, by all extolled,
it’s said one day you’ll visit us to see
if we conduct our lives as we’ve been told.
We pray for daily victuals – cost of living
has left us in a fine financial mess.
We’re certain that you’ll always be forgiving,
should we, mere weak and mortal souls, transgress.
We’ll