MINUET AT MIDNIGHT
Thou art my minuet at midnight,
a primal ember, softly stirred;
the tender call of the turtledove at dawn
that gently heralds the morn.
Thou art my silence, and my trembling,
which in longing I weave into verse.
Thou art the flame of a restless body,
a fervent yearning that warms within.
Thou art the depth and essence of my soul,
long hidden from unworthy eyes.
A love awaited since days of childhood;
a tender blossom that I tend in rapture.
Woven of the same mystic substance,
in a gleam that sets each atom aflame;
fate hath bestowed us one upon the other,
in a wondrous fire that dreams of the eternal.
Milena Pčinjski, MA – Biography
Milena Pčinjski (Милена Пчињски) was born on October 28, 1986, in Prokuplje, Republic of Serbia, and currently resides in Ćuprija. She holds a Master’s degree in English Language and Literature. She is recognized as an international poet who writes in both Serbian and English. Her poetry has been published in numerous collections and anthologies of contemporary Serbian literature, as well as in international and online poetry compilations. Her poems have been translated into English, Hungarian, Russian, Romanian, Bengali, and Finnish.
She is a member of several book clubs in Serbia and regularly participates in literary events and poetry competitions. In 2025, she published her poetry collection Verses Imprisoned (Заробљени стихови). She works as an online English professor and also serves as a translator and editor for Area Felix, an international Serbian e-magazine dedicated to creative literature and culture. Additionally, she is a proofreader for the Association of Writers –SKOR, where she also serves as the President for the Pomoravlje Region.
Her collection Verses Imprisoned was awarded the Honorary Silver Diploma by the Orthodox Cultural and Artistic Almanac Arina NN in Nizhny Novgorod in 2025.
Milena is an honorary member of the International Advisory Board of the Academy of Farsala in Greece, as well as of the Global Literary Society, where she received a Certificate of Appreciation for „her excellent contribution to the Global Movement of Positive Literature” from Bhagirath Choudhary, the founder of the organization. She is currently preparing her second poetry collection.