A Poem in Honor of Greek Independence and Chios

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A Poem in Honor of Greek Independence and Chios

March 19, 2021

Pyrgi Chios

NEW YORK – Sofia Korahais, a college professor, writer and public relations practitioner for the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, submitted the following poem in honor of the 200th anniversary of Greek Independence:

Chios

By Sofia Korahais

The island shaped like a sandal

Its footprint remains in the sea

Only 4 miles away from the devil, they say

His breath still lingers on thee.

The tears of the mastic trees glistened

Soaking the earth with despair

As they arrive in their fleets staining all of their streets

Leaving them only with prayer

Chiots were sold, maimed and murdered

Young women purchased as slaves

The sandal was left there in ashes

But the blue and white flag proudly waves.

They never backed down their resistance

As the cross bled over their fears

"Freedom or death," they all shout with one breath

And it echoed for 200 years.

The island shaped like a sandal

Its footprints still following me

As God follows all the Aegean

So that Greece and her children are free.

Sofia Korahais. Photo by Petros Korahais

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