Biblical Limericks: Behemoth!

Job, the Behemoth should be your sign
to indicate how power’s defined -
just one glance divulges
with vigor he bulges;
his penis stiffens just like the pine.

Job 40:17

Stephen Mitchel translated verse 17 as: "Look: the power in his thighs, the pulsing sinews of his belly. His penis stiffens like a pine; his testicles bulge with vigor.”

April Anomalies A-Z: Ziz

Speak to the earth
and the Behemoth will answer;
call for the sea
and Leviathan will reply.
But if you would converse with the winds
and if you could speak with the sky
you would hear the voice of Ziz.

When wise King Solomon
ordered the animals
to bring him word from distant lands
only Ziz returned with a report,

Feathered Zis, who flew
all the way to Havilah (where there is gold)
and back again, to say:

“As I am king of the birds,
you are king over men.
I am Ziz that stands with my feet upon the earth

and my beak in the heavens.
If I spread out my wings, do I not blot out the sun?”

As Leviathan is king over the fishes
and Behemoth emperor over the beasts of the earth
Feathered Ziz rules over the flocks and birds of the air,
yet even he, in his feathered splendor,
is subject to the Great Name.

This is part of April Anomalies A-Z, a creative writing exercise and not intended to be an altogether accurate picture of the creature described above. 

April Anomalies A-Z: Leviathan

Look! Look now!
See the Leviathan that I have made!

Look at my Leviathan!
It is a mercy that he has not been made a plague for mankind.

From the waters of the west,
comes the first of the Lord’s Sea Monsters
springing from the deep, Leviathan coiled,
Leviathan the twisted and twisting,
brother to Behemoth of the land and Ziz of the air.

Who could strip him of his skin, even to make a sukkah of his skin

Who could penetrate the cavern of his maw
and who could return from those slashing teeth.

The smoke of his nostrils
the flame of his mouth
this is his terror;
he is terror, for who could resist him?

Thrusting spears and slashing swords
have no effect against Leviathan.
Look at him and tremble.

And yet, he will be spread open,
his flesh given out to feed the people.
Him that fed upon the righteous
will, one day, feed the righteous.

This is part of April Anomalies A-Z, a creative writing exercise and not intended to be an altogether accurate picture of the creature described above. 

April Anomalies A-Z: Behemoth

Behold now, the Behemoth I have made.
Behold now, the Behemoth and the strength of his loins
his penis stiffens like a cedar, the sinews around his stones are knit together,
his limbs are like copper, his bones are like iron.

The primordial beast of the land,
brother to Leviathan of the sea and Ziz of the air,
he is first among the wild beasts and of the creatures that move along the ground.

The river may rage and the waters wild
but Behemoth sleeps in the shade of the Lotus tree;
he is not disturbed by your cries,
by your shouts of distress.

Behold now, the Behemoth I have made,
biggest born of the earth in its upheavals
born of the ground in all its shaking,
first of the Master’s making
but against him only the Maker may draw his sword.

You, who sit in dust and ash,
upon a tower of dung,
are you a man? Prepare yourself;
look upon the Behemoth and tremble.

This is part of April Anomalies A-Z, a creative writing exercise and not intended to be an altogether accurate picture of the creature described above.   See also Behemoth! Behemoth!

Behemoth! Behemoth!

Behemoth! Behemoth!
Acrylic, ink, and collage on paper