A most rewarding part of sharing videos at Moving Poems is finding a film-maker or poet who has never been published on our site. Sound of the footsteps of water spoke to me while searching the #poetryfilm tag at Vimeo.

The beautiful and mystical poem from 1964 is by Iranian writer and artist Sohrab Sepehri (1928-1980).

Well-versed in Buddhism, mysticism, and Western traditions, he blended the Eastern concepts with Western techniques, thereby creating a kind of poetry unprecedented in the history of Persian literature. (Wikipedia)

The English translation in the film’s subtitles can be read on the page in the Vimeo summary. It is a selection from a much longer poem. A different translation in entirety is here.

This delicate film and its subtle music are by French media artist Carine Iriarte, and gently voiced in Farsi by Mossi Hashemi.

Carine Iriarte has also made a companion video to this one, a part two, from another section of Sohrab Sepehri’s poem.