ApocaLyrics

Lyric Love Poems by Adam Powers

apocalypse (n.)

• late 14c., meaning "revelation, disclosure," from Church Latin apocalypsis

• "revelation," from Greek apokalyptein "uncover, disclose, reveal,"

• the rest of the etymology REVEALED.

To reveal

the meaning of the word(/world)

Apocalypse

is like shaking up to our own:

Seeing Apocalypse-Eyed, NOT as One Big Moment of everything ending with a tight bye-bye bow atop existence: nope — but as the Big Reveal as Just The Beginning, the creeping wake-up, the total slog, the pulling back to see the (white) man behind the curtain, the connecting dots of the unsustainability of it all as it is setup (today), the realization that extractive systems trying to fool us into fossil fueled habits are designed to drag all our habitats down… feels like the scariest clarity. But seeing it, getting here: THIS ALL MEANS there’s always another way to go!

On the idea of it being the big bang-poof end of it all: Futurist Jamais Cascio said “we may not notice that the apocalypse has begun until we’re well within it.” And describes the rolling trauma of our planetary crisis as reminder to keep fighting through survival (to a thriving all!). This extended tunnel movement-not-moment way of seeing it is more the vibe.

Not biblically. But temporally.

Not with a nihilist’s detached disregard. But with an empath’s trauma-informed heart.

Thus, Apocalypse is the bolt shock rage/awakening to the horrors of *gestures widely at everything* That humans cranked our climate making all crises more likely and intense is just one way to see systemic collapses that certainly underscores the meaning of the word. And so I started writing love poems to my partner a bit back, experimenting with the language of ApocaLit, climate epochs, also inspired by:

• Maya Angelou’s “Come, And Be My Baby”

• The Song from the Tony-winning Broadway Musical Next to Normal “Perfect for You”

• *gesture around with grief and rage*

I kept rolling with this dark theme, considering how the You of the Lover I write to can be read as The World, The Future, People, Mother Earth, Existence Etcetera. And I’ve added a preamble to truly do my part to reclaim the word to its roots: not as any reason to throw your hands up and claim nothing matters — but the reason to roll your sleeves up and take matters into your own hands.

Because then our “Apocalypse”— this terrible unveiling of all the ways men have set up systems incompatible with life—is a period we’ll see put in our past. By naming it, awaking to it, shaking all to it, retaking it, and remaking it, I know we’ll see a better future through, yes— hell yes! the force that will save us all:

Love.

Love,

Adam

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ApocaList of Contents:

0. ApocaLyrics - Preamble

1. 🌐💙Anthropo-scenic love song

2. 🔥🧡Pyro-scenic love song

3. ☢️💛 Apoca-cryptic love song

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ApocaLyrics

A Preamble

Allow me

a contextualizing run-on verse

For this end-of-world series

Another planetary preamble?

Sort of – giving you

...The world...

Rambling

In nonsense sense

Using the language of 

Apocalypse

To invoke deep feelings

For my deepest relationships

Making fun

Expressing 

Impressing

Limits on things

That are literally

In the air above

To invert the language of

Apocalypse

As the language of

Love.

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Generally mined from the heart quarry
There's a basic flow to the base story
Form this takes (which may work for a bit). It goes:
Shit sucks + but I love you = (that's it!)

So for example, starting here, I’ll be more clear:

Human activity is changing our climate
Fossil fools foisting on folks’ denial and fear
And yet: I love you, in our limited time
At it, we can do something about it, my dear

So I enjoy lots of examples, as should you:

Extreme weather, extreme pandemic, extremism
These days sure serve more than ample barbarism
But I love you through it, and with you we'll carry through with us
Taking care of each other against the cynicism

So if you haven't found clarity, third example’s the charm:

Writing your own ApocaLyric sounds
Like sharing a Google Docalypse around
So I'll love you no matter how silly or scary
The future we we share or the burden we carry

So these words webbing context, slinging examples
Are your warning of dark humor, disclaimer, and sample
In the light of Nature seriously playing no games with us
Where these silly words dress up a serious fight for justice
So I hope this series doesn’t move you past tipping points of your own
But pushes you the other direction, dragging everyone towards
Catastrophic success —
What I need you to understand
To unlock the key to these ApocaLands
Is to see the second person point of view
To know the You is my Love for All too
Like a good pop song, You: are my love
My planet, my dance mate, my only one.

Apocalypses:

Are less of a blow-out
And more of a bender
Lessons throughout
More continuing than ender
A funnel we're sliding within
When we can always slide the other way
Tipping towards tomorrow trying everything today
Tipping points tell us:
"YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY"
Singing love songs about what destroys us
And what we can still change
But never actually all lost
There's a new day to save
A something, and someone,
Somehow, some way.

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Climate Epoch Vocab

Anthropocene: the Anthropocene Epoch is an unofficial unit of geologic time, used to describe the most recent period in Earth’s history when human activity started to have a significant impact on the planet’s climate and ecosystems. The word Anthropocene is derived from the Greek words anthropo, for “man,” and cene for “new,” coined and made popular by biologist Eugene Stormer and chemist Paul Crutzen in 2000.

Holocene: Officially, the current epoch is called the Holocene, which began 11,700 years ago after the last major ice age.

Paleocene: First major worldwide division of rocks and time of the Paleogene Period, spanning the interval between 66 million and 56 million years ago.

Pyrocene: The word was coined in 2015 by Stephen Pyne, an emeritus professor at Arizona State University’s School of Life Sciences and the author of nearly 30 books about the history of fire. A new unofficial epoch now defined by how humans have left their mark on the planet with fire. First for clearing landscapes for hunting and gathering, now for powering our cars and homes and gadgets.