The Persian and The Poet

In essence, this episode – The Fall of The Willow – is a spoken-word album, which you can listen to in one continuous stream.

It's a curated compilation consisting of each one of Cameron's original poems shared in the 2020 podcast season. These poems have been brought together to create a single half-hour of swirling, twirling, whispered and hollered words declared and confided to YOU – our dear listener.

          Coming soon: all the translations of these poems in Farsi

          read by Ramak Bamzar in a special FARSI ONLY episode!

Poem 1 :  As I Stand on Edge of The Park

Poem 2 : What Happened in The Forest?

Poem 3 : Still Trying To

Poem 4 : The Father of Butterflies

Poem 5 : Come Into Me

Poem 6 : They are a secret

Poem 7 : Petalled Pillows and Thorny Sheets – Part 1

Poem 8 : Petalled Pillows and Thorny Sheets – Part 2

Poem 9 : In The Mountains

Poem 10 : The Mind is a Yacht, The Heart an Oil Tanker

Poem 11 : Upon Approaching a Dead Person in a Hospice

Poem 12 : Rapid ‘I’ Movement Towards You

Poem 13 : From My Dry Lips

Poem 14 : The Wattle and The Willow

Title song : 'A Warm Welcome' by Jared Haschek: jaredhaschek.com

1 :  Rod Gear www.rodgearmusic.com

2 : Jared Haschek: jaredhaschek.com

3 : ‘Chasm’ from the album ‘Separate Journeys’ by Spike Mason www.spikemason.com

4 : ‘Viewed from The Climb’ from the album ‘Separate Journeys’ by Spike Mason www.spikemason.com

5 : ‘God’ from the album ‘Henotic’ by Spike Mason www.spikemason.com

6 : ‘Frederique’ by Michael Carney.

7 : Rod Gear www.rodgearmusic.com

8 : Rod Gear www.rodgearmusic.com 

10 : Rod Gear www.rodgearmusic.com

11 : ‘Frederique’ by Michael Carney.

12 : ‘Love her and she will watch over you’ by Luke Pittman

13 : Cameron Semmens

14 : Rod Gear www.rodgearmusic.com

Poem : From My Dry Lips – words and music by Cameron Semmens.

Title music : A Warm Welcome – Jared Haschek: jaredhaschek.com

Production and editing – Cameron Semmens : www.webcameron.com

Photography and graphic design – Ramak Bamzar : www.ramakbamzar.com

Episode 14 : Yalda Night Special

Ramak and Cam share a night full of candles, cosiness, fruit and poetry! Gorgeous ghazals from one of the greatest of all Persian poets: Hafiz, as well as exquisite poems from Cam’s 3 favourite poets: David Whyte, Mary Oliver and John O’Donohue…. and Cam couldn’t not share a brand-new ghazal he’d just written.

But some may be asking – What is Yalda Night?

Well, Yalda Night is a winter solstice festival celebrated in Iran. Friends and family gather on the longest night of the year to eat, drink and read poetry (especially Hafez) until well after midnight. Nuts and fruits are shared. The red-coloured fruits, like pomegranates and watermelons, are particularly significant – symbolising the crimson hues of dawn and the glow of life. The poems of Hafez, which can be found in the bookcases of most Iranian families, are read aloud… and even used as a light-hearted form of divination called ‘fal-e Hafez’, where the reader sends out a wish to Hafez, flicks through their book of Hafez poems, stops at a random page, and reads that poem as an answer to their wish…

and on this Yalda Night in 2020 Ramak and Cam try a bit of fal-e Hafez… with thought-provoking results!

Poem list:

1 : Sweet Darkness by David Whyte.

2 : A Summer Day by Mary Oliver.

3 & 4 : Ghazals by Hafez from The Divan of Hafez.

5 : Ode 44 (a ghazal by Hafez) translated by Richard Le Gallienne.

6 : A Silent Refrain by Cameron Semmens

7 : For The Break-up of a Relationship by John O’Donohue

All music by Jared Haschek: jaredhaschek.com

Podcast produced by Cameron Semmens : www.webcameron.com

Photography and graphic design by Ramak Bamzar : www.ramakbamzar.com

Poem 1 : The Wattle and The Willow by Cameron Semmens.

Translation by Ramak Bamzar.

Music : Rod Gear www.rodgearmusic.com

Poem 2 : How Impatient by Ahmad Shamlou.

Music : Rod Gear www.rodgearmusic.com

Title music : ‘A Warm Welcome’ by Jared Haschek: jaredhaschek.com

Podcast produced by Cameron Semmens : www.webcameron.com

Photography and graphic design by Ramak Bamzar : www.ramakbamzar.com

Episode 11 : And someone is dying

... In this episode Ramak and Cameron discuss times they have stood beside death. For Cameron, at hospital bedsides; for Ramak, as a documentary photographer, in the disaster zone of the 2003 Bam earthquake in southern Iran. And they wonder over the fact that… as someone is dying… another is coming to life. As Ned Kelly said in his famous last words before he hung from the noose: such is life.

Poem 1 : Upon Approaching a Dead Person in a Hospice by Cameron Semmens; translation by Ramak Bamzar. Music : ‘Frederique’ by Michael Carney.

Poem 2 : Moonlight by Ahmad Shamlou; translation into English by Iraj Bashiri. Music by Jared Haschek: jaredhaschek.com

Title music : ‘A Warm Welcome’ by Jared Haschek: jaredhaschek.com

Podcast produced by Cameron Semmens : www.webcameron.com

Photography and graphic design by Ramak Bamzar : www.ramakbamzar.com

Poem 1 : The Mind is a Yacht, The Heart an Oil Tanker by Cameron Semmens; translation by Ramak Bamzar and Roya Bamzar. Music : Rod Gear www.rodgearmusic.com

Poem 2 : Oasis in a Moment by Sohrab Sepehri; translation into English by Ismail Salami. Music : Rod Gear www.rodgearmusic.com

Title music : ‘A Warm Welcome’ by Jared Haschek: jaredhaschek.com

Podcast produced by Cameron Semmens : www.webcameron.com

Photography and graphic design by Ramak Bamzar : www.ramakbamzar.com

Poem 1 : ‘The Wind Will Take Us’ by Forough Farrokhzad; translation into English by Daniel Shams. Music : Rod Gear www.rodgearmusic.com 

Poem 2 : ’Petalled Pillows and Thorny Sheets – Part 2’ by Cameron Semmens; translation by Ramak Bamzar. Music : Rod Gear www.rodgearmusic.com 

Title music : ‘A Warm Welcome’ by Jared Haschek: jaredhaschek.com 

Podcast produced by Cameron Semmens : www.webcameron.com 

Photography and graphic design by Ramak Bamzar : www.ramakbamzar.com 

Poem 1 : ’Petalled Pillows and Thorny Sheets – Part 1’ by Cameron Semmens; translation by Ramak Bamzar. Music : Rod Gear.

Poem 2 : ‘Tryst’ by Ahmad Shamlou; translation into English by Naim Nabili and Frank Lewis. Music : Rod Gear www.rodgearmusic.com 

Title music : ‘A Warm Welcome’ by Jared Haschek: jaredhaschek.com …

Podcast produced by Cameron Semmens : www.webcameron.com … 

Photography and graphic design by Ramak Bamzar : www.ramakbamzar.com …

Poem 1 : ’In The Mountains’ by Cameron Semmens; translation by Ramak Bamzar.

Poem 2 : The Dead-end Rod road by Ahmad Shamlou; translation by Sholeh Wolpé. Music : Rod Gear www.rodgearmusic.com

Title music : ‘A Warm Welcome’ by Jared Haschek: jaredhaschek.com

Podcast produced by Cameron Semmens : www.webcameron.com

Photography and graphic design by Ramak Bamzar : www.ramakbamzar.com