<b>the boy who died, alive</b>
<p>“There’s no other love like the love for a brother. There’s no other love like the love from a brother.” – Terri Guillemets</p>
(live: 8s)[(goto: "V.W.")]
(track: 'tree', 'playwhenpossible')(align:"<==")+(box:"XX===")[When the clock strikes (t8n:"flicker") + (transition-time: 1s)[three],
He would enter my room,
And whisper into my ear,
"What do you see?"
I smile and whisper back,
"I see [[my brother]]."](align:"<==")+(box:"XX===")[He says the mirror lies.
It shows a (text-style: "blurrier")[boy],
There is no skin,
There is no face,
There is no (text-style:"strike")[life].
He is afraid,
[[The mirror does not lie]].]
(align:"<==")+(box:"XX===")[Breakfast,
He sits by my side,
(text-style:"shudder")[Scrapping] the metal plate.
The sound grating my ears,
I yell him to stop.
With only silence now,
My parents say to me,
There was never any sound,
There was never any [[boy|boy]].]
(align:"<==")+(box:"XX===")[I tell them my brother is here.
They do not (text-color: #cc8d84)[see] him,(click-replace:"see")[love]
And he (text-style:"rumble")[wails],
And he (text-style:"strike")[grieves],
Till his voice hoarse,
And his cheeks damp.
Yet, he still remains,
If not for them, then [[for me]].]
(align:"<==")+(box:"XX===")[School has ended.
He waits by the gate,
With ice cream and woes,
He shares both,
The sweet dairy,
And his sorrows.
No one sees him.
No one loves him.
And I say to him,
I still see you,
[[I still love|3]] you.]
(align:"<==")+(box:"XX===")[He tucks me in,
And shares a secret.
For every night,
He weeps in bed,
He prays a little prayer,
To go to a time when,
He was seen by many,
And was loved at dearly.
But with tears in my eyes,
I plead him to stay.
I still see him,
[[I still love|2]] him.]
(align:"<==")+(box:"XX===")[After the hushed whispers,
After he leaves me be,
For me and for him,
I (text-style:"strike")[mourn] silently.
He has no skin,
He has no face.
[[The mirror does not lie|4]].
(text-style:"fidget")[The only liar is I.]]
(align:"<==")+(box:"XX===")[Your face long gone,
Your skin no more,
And yet, your love still remains.
So to my brother, I will always say,
I still see you the same,
I still love you the same.
You are my brother,
You never changed.]
(live: 18s)[(goto: "credits")](align:"<==")[CREDITS
Cover Art - Armin O. 2023, //Untitled//, image, Unsplash, viewed 5 June 2023,
Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran, https://unsplash.com/photos/u77jabSjRxE
Writing - Me at 4am
Coding - Me and my tears
Music - The Tree by Ludovico Einaudi]
tree: https://schlaurty-gnaons-scaiong.yolasite.com/ws/media-library/36d28394e16345238fc3f4e5084148eb/the-tree.mp3