Roots of Resilience

 
Upon the slopes where Kalogeros gleams,

An ancient olive stirs from long-lost dreams.

Its trunk of years, three thousand, three hundred strong,

Has witnessed village life and centuries long.

From Castle Geraki, it stands in quiet might,

A guardian of the valley, steadfast in light.

But summer came in twenty-twenty’s heat,

And flames engulfed its branches, roots, and seat.

The villagers watched, hearts heavy with pain,

As smoke and ash lay down a blackened chain.

They thought it lost, their symbol of the past,

A history burned, perhaps to never last.

Yet deep within the scorched and fractured core,

A hidden spark of life began to soar.

Through Mother Nature’s unseen, gentle hand,

Green shoots appeared to bless the ravaged land.

A crown of hope atop the wounded tree,

A living emblem of resilience to see.

The leaves once gone, now shimmered fresh and bright,

A green embrace restoring lost delight.

The villagers came, their eyes wide with awe,

They whispered thanks for life’s unbroken law.

And if the earth gives second chances still,

What will we do to honour nature’s will?

Who will record this miracle so rare,

A photograph to show that life repairs?

To every Karitsiotis across the seas,

The image speaks of hope, of roots, of trees.

For even from the darkest, ash-strewn ground,

Life rises up, renewed, profound.

The olive stands, a lesson to impart,

That patience, care, and nature heal the heart.

So may we learn, while watching leaves unfurl,

To guard our heritage, this precious world.