Kaze No Denwa 

I heard about a telephone today 
One where you can call the dead
One where you pour out your love, your regret, your grief 
One where the wind carries your voice away like dried rustling leaves 
Leaving you spent and empty and whole 
Maybe the words fly to heaven 
Maybe they sink into hell 
But mine go nowhere 
Because my grief can’t be assuaged by the wind 
My feelings are honey sweet and burning on the skin of my cheeks 
I want to call you 
Pretend I hear your voice 
But there is no laugh nor whisper on the other side 
My heart sits like a rock in my chest 
Heavy with unsaid words I cannot utter 
Too heavy to be carried on the wind 

The “Kaze no Denwa” or “The Phone of the Wind” is a phone booth originally placed in the garden of Itaru Sasaki in Ōtsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. He was grieving the death of his brother. Since then visitors from all over Japan and the world have traveled to hold one-way conversations with deceased loved ones in his phone booth. When you enter the booth, the words “Welcome, I’ve been waiting for you,” are visible.

I loved the idea of a phone that I might use to call my grandmother who I still miss. I have a phone. It’s not connected – an old rotary dial antique that has its own telephone table. But I can’t bring myself to pick up the receiver. 

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