Who can bind a creature that has grown too powerful to keep its promises? This short poem draws on the biblical Leviathan to ask what happens when strength outgrows restraint. Once small enough to live among others, the creature learns hunger, taking, and patience. Twelve partners try to contain it with stone, iron, and covenants. The question is whether their promises can hold it at all.
Published in January 2026, this allegory considers power, sovereignty, and the limits of agreements without offering an easy answer. Even the Leviathan is mortal. That does not mean those beside it can make it obey tonight.
Read the poem: https://joelkdouglas.com/2026/01/22/who-can-subdue-the-leviathan/
Music by Jon Björk: “Dwell Upon”.
