D. A. Cooper is a poet and writer from Houston, TX. He recently completed his MFA in poetry at the University of St. Thomas, Houston. His work has also appeared in Ad Fontes, Autumn Sky Poetry Daily, Light, Lighten Up Online, New Verse Review, Reformed Journal, The Society for Classical Poets, and Witcraft, among others. He enjoys translating dialect poetry from Italy and watching The Office.
Thick, mist-forged shackles held us in the cave, imprisoned for the crime of losing all. We saw nothing but shadows on the wall— they gamboled and they taunted us. We gave in to the dark. A crushing fear replaced our hope for liberation with despair. Our cries withered to whimpers on thin air out in…