Essays & Poems
This Holy Earth
In 1999, along with 225 world citizens, Libby was asked to submit a piece of writing to a book entitled “Prayers for a Thousand Years: Inspiration from Leaders and Visionaries Around the World”, edited by Elias Amidon and Elizabeth Roberts, published by Harper San Francisco.
The book is a collection of visions, blessings, stories, and challenges for the new millenium, including contributions by the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Marion Wright Edelman, Alice Walker, Gary Snyder, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Holly Near, Gloria Steinem and others.
Libby’s invocation can be found under the section “This Holy Earth.” The book is available in local bookstores throughout the U.S. and in select stores in other countries as well as online.
Read THIS HOLY EARTH
In the name of every muscle in our bodies, we beseech you
In the name of the feather, the sun, the mountain, the river, the otter, the salmon, the pine and the stone
In the name of babies, now and forever more, and of lovers, and of sex.
In the name of the breathing, pushing, spreading, decaying, pulsing earth beneath our gills, our roots, our talons, our hooves and our bare skinned feet:
Help us.
Help us easily distracted, heartbreakingly self-centered, brilliant and beautiful big-brained creatures,
Us business-as-usual, new-on-the-planet, slow-moving, deep loving creatures
Help us to remember that this wondrously intelligent orb has generated living art beyond anything we will ever hope to approximate
24 hours a day
For six billion years —
Help us to remember that we can seize the power
That we can raise our voices
That we can flood the courtrooms, the schoolrooms, the boardrooms,
the email, voice mail, letters to the editor, the streets, the banks, the churches and the temples
That we can rise up in power on behalf of all those who live in tree, cave, hive, village, dam, river, ocean, and suburb.
That we can rise up on behalf of all we love and all that keeps us alive.
We beseech you: visible and invisible,
wild and tame, past, present and future.
Have mercy on us human beings.
Help us give birth to the human race.
Libby Roderick
Singer and Composer
Turtle Island Records
Anchorage, Alaska
© 2000
MORAL GROUND: ETHICAL ACTION for a PLANET in PERIL
Edited by Kathleen Dean Moore and Michael Nelson
Although climate disruption and environmental degradation are scientific and technological issues, they are fundamentally moral issues. MORAL GROUND gathers the testimony of one hundred of the world’s moral leaders – theologians and religious leaders, scientists, poets, business leaders, activists, and philosophers. Together they present a compelling call to honor our individual and collective moral responsibilities to the planet.
Libby’s song “Winter Wheat” is included in this collection.
ARCTIC REFUGE: A CIRCLE OF TESTIMONY
Edited by Hank Lentfer and Carolyn Servid
Arctic Refuge arose from a political moment related to the need to protect Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, yet contains eloquent wisdom and timely information central to a sustainable vision for our world. The book began as an idea in January 2001, when two Alaska residents responded to proposals to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by sending a call to writers across the country. Just seven weeks later, the book was presented to Congress.
Libby’s poem “Another Country” is included in this collection.
http://milkweed.org/shop/product/147/
CROSSCURRENTS NORTH: ALASKANS ON THE ENVIRONMENT
Edited by Marybeth Holleman and Anne Coray
The essays and poems collected in Crosscurrents North offer thoughtful meditations on the Alaska environment and the relationship between humans and nature. These 61 pieces celebrate the wildness and wonder of nature as well as the human impact on it.
Libby has a piece in this anthology entitled “Ted and Me.”