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