« I heard the Mediterranean whisper a secret at dawn » poem by the youth

Here is a poem that the young people of session 5 wrote and shared during the peace ceremony held on July 18 in Athens.

[Voice 1]
I heard the Mediterranean
whisper a secret at dawn,

[Voice 2]
as the sails pulled us gently
from night to morn.

[Voice 1]
It said: Hope is not dead.

[Voice 2]
It’s rooted in the sea—

[Together]
in olive groves and shorelines unseen.

[Voice 1]
And through these lands,
I walked—

[Voice 2]
and walked—

[Together]
and walked
and walked
and walked
and walked.

[Voice 1]
Until I couldn’t walk anymore.

[Voice 2]
Not through the desert,
not over the mountains,
not through forests,
not across fields.

[Voice 1]
In that stillness, in that despair,
I saw the sea.

[Voice 2]
The cold wind—
only she could save me
from this thirst.

[Voice 1]
Only her energy held me
and brought shelter
to all I feel.

[Together]
In nature,
there is everything
God and humans need.

[Voice 1]
Fire for warmth.

[Voice 2]
Water for our thirst.

[Voice 1]
Wind for breath.

[Voice 2]
Soil to grow
our shared earth.

[Together]
And then—
on our house at sea—
we came to see.

[Voice 1]
And we came here
to tell you:

[Voice 2]
Caring for nature
is caring for you.

[Voice 1]
The land is not ours.

[Voice 2]
We belong to she.

[Together]
No map.
No borders.
Just the abundance of land and sea.

[Voice 1]
Each breeze carries
a story of the future we choose.

[Voice 2]
A world we can nurture—

[Voice 1]
or a world we could lose.

[Together]
Caring for nature
is caring for you.

Now the sea knows—
and so do we.