Apocalypse Songtext
von Derrick Jensen

So as a long-time grassroots environmental activist, and as a
Creature living in the thrashing endgame of civilization, I am
Intimately acquainted with the landscape of loss, and have grown
Accustomed to carrying the daily weight of despair. I′ve walked
Clear-cuts that wrap around mountains and drop into valleys and
Climb ridges to fragment watershed after watershed. And I've sat
Silent near empty streams that two generations ago were lashed
Into whiteness by uncountable salmon coming home to spawn and die

A few years ago I began to feel pretty apocalyptic, but
I hesitated to use that word, in part because of all those
Cartoons I′ve seen of crazy penitents carrying "The End
Is Near" signs, and in part because of the power of the
Word itself—apocalypse. I didn't want to use it lightly

And then a friend and fellow activist said to me, "So, Derek, what's

It going to take for you to finally use that word? Will it take the


Death of runs of salmon so large that people were afraid to put their
Boats in the water for fear they′d capsize? So large that horses were
Afraid to get in the water? So large you couldn′t see the bottom of
The river? Maybe it'll take the death of flocks of passenger pigeons
That were so large they darkened the sky for days at a time, horizon
To horizon, flying 60 miles an hour and sounding like rolling
Thunder, and there were six times as many passenger pigeons as all
Other birds in North America combined. Maybe it′ll take the death of
Flocks of Eskimo curlews that were almost as large. Maybe it'll take
The death of the great auks." Does anybody in here know why there

Are no penguins in the Northern Hemisphere? There were. They were
Called great auks, A-U-K-S. And there were so many all over the North
Atlantic that even on one island, a French explorer said that they
Could fill every ship in France and it wouldn′t
Make a dent. And they did, and it did. And the
Last great auk was killed in the 19th century

"So maybe it'll take the turning of the sea off San Diego into a dead
Zone. Maybe it′ll take global warming before you finally call it an
Apocalypse. Maybe it'll take dioxin in every mother's breast milk
Maybe it′ll take flame retardant in every mother′s breast milk. Maybe
It'll take the hole in the ozone. You know, give me a specific
Threshold, Derek, a specific point at
Which you′ll finally use that word."