Dance of the Dead
By
Nenad Mitrovich
The time returned — the gray seed grew,
A pain long buried, breaking through.
It froze, afraid before the glass,
A wounded glimpse that came to pass.
It shimmered faint, a dream's lost hue,
So sad, so still, and nearly true.
A stranger's hand, so pale and cold,
Brushed the mirror's lifeless hold.
Behind me — slender, strange and fair --
Dancing shadows froze the air.
Dark bodies flickered, torn and small,
Children smiling through it all.
They spun around in ghostly cheer,
A fairy ring of death drawn near.
Crooked shades, in wild trance,
Never did the dead so dance.
There stood the mirror in the gloom,
Counting hours inside the room.
For here no sun will ever rise,
No dawn shall burn in warming skies.
No morning comes, no day begun --
I feast on gray, and shun the sun.
Then came the night, and with it, more --
The pictures walking through the door.
Living scenes — or fevered lie?
Who paints such truth and leaves to die?
Half-faded now, they laugh, they leap,
Yet scorch my soul and freeze it deep.
They spun around in ghostly cheer,
A fairy ring of death drawn near.
Crooked shades, in wild trance,
Never did the dead so dance.
The mirror calls in whispered song,
And pulls my strangest dreams along --
With phantoms dressed in silken grace,
While reason cracks in time and space.
Beneath despair’s consuming weight,
Does this mind dream, or contemplate?
They came again in pale parade,
With voices soft and sorrow-made.
Born from glass, with madness fed,
They stole my strength, my living thread.
The mirror’s curse, the night so black,
No hope ahead, no turning back.
They spun around in ghostly cheer,
A fairy ring of death drawn near.
Crooked shades, in wild trance,
Never did the dead so dance.
Nenad Mitrovich is a published author of five novels, all written in Serbian language, published on Serbian market. The short story "Line 54(4)" became the winner of the annual contest of the "Mirko Petrović" library in Negotin (East Serbia) in 2022. Short story „The right to die“ became a winner on annual competition „Miodrag Borisavljević“ (Serbia) in 2024. Short story „Belgrade butcher“ was published in US magazine „Dark harbor“ in 2025. Short story „Samsara – The house of pain“ published in Gothic Gazette publication, Pulp cult magazine, „Withered love“ edition, in 2025. Short story „Gospel of Ashes“ published in Laughing man house publication - Smitten Land Issue 3, themed “Televangelism horror” in 2025. Short story “An Advertisement” published in Horrific Scribblings Magazine, in October 2025.
Website: www.nenadmitrovic.rs
email: [email protected]
By
Nenad Mitrovich
The time returned — the gray seed grew,
A pain long buried, breaking through.
It froze, afraid before the glass,
A wounded glimpse that came to pass.
It shimmered faint, a dream's lost hue,
So sad, so still, and nearly true.
A stranger's hand, so pale and cold,
Brushed the mirror's lifeless hold.
Behind me — slender, strange and fair --
Dancing shadows froze the air.
Dark bodies flickered, torn and small,
Children smiling through it all.
They spun around in ghostly cheer,
A fairy ring of death drawn near.
Crooked shades, in wild trance,
Never did the dead so dance.
There stood the mirror in the gloom,
Counting hours inside the room.
For here no sun will ever rise,
No dawn shall burn in warming skies.
No morning comes, no day begun --
I feast on gray, and shun the sun.
Then came the night, and with it, more --
The pictures walking through the door.
Living scenes — or fevered lie?
Who paints such truth and leaves to die?
Half-faded now, they laugh, they leap,
Yet scorch my soul and freeze it deep.
They spun around in ghostly cheer,
A fairy ring of death drawn near.
Crooked shades, in wild trance,
Never did the dead so dance.
The mirror calls in whispered song,
And pulls my strangest dreams along --
With phantoms dressed in silken grace,
While reason cracks in time and space.
Beneath despair’s consuming weight,
Does this mind dream, or contemplate?
They came again in pale parade,
With voices soft and sorrow-made.
Born from glass, with madness fed,
They stole my strength, my living thread.
The mirror’s curse, the night so black,
No hope ahead, no turning back.
They spun around in ghostly cheer,
A fairy ring of death drawn near.
Crooked shades, in wild trance,
Never did the dead so dance.
Nenad Mitrovich is a published author of five novels, all written in Serbian language, published on Serbian market. The short story "Line 54(4)" became the winner of the annual contest of the "Mirko Petrović" library in Negotin (East Serbia) in 2022. Short story „The right to die“ became a winner on annual competition „Miodrag Borisavljević“ (Serbia) in 2024. Short story „Belgrade butcher“ was published in US magazine „Dark harbor“ in 2025. Short story „Samsara – The house of pain“ published in Gothic Gazette publication, Pulp cult magazine, „Withered love“ edition, in 2025. Short story „Gospel of Ashes“ published in Laughing man house publication - Smitten Land Issue 3, themed “Televangelism horror” in 2025. Short story “An Advertisement” published in Horrific Scribblings Magazine, in October 2025.
Website: www.nenadmitrovic.rs
email: [email protected]
