In today’s world, it’s so easy to get burnt out by the drain that society puts on us.  Up-and-coming poet Dakota Combs weaves a melancholy prose in his latest work, a reflection of millennial hopelessness that accurately depicts not only the weight and monotony that responsibility forces upon us, but also the ties that bind (or enslave) us as we are forced to engage in small talk and impersonal interactions with others.

How was your day today? 

By Dakota Combs

Feeling old and drained in this societal domain. 
From the burbs to the ghetto
Tryna stay on the straight and narrow
I sleep better in the ghetto though
Workin this 9-5 like that's life
I write from time to time. 
Monday wake up "Ahh"
Maybe I'll shake it up. 
Coffee maker broke gotta get coffee to get woke
Caffeine and nicotine legal stimulants to which I've become dependent
On my way to caffeine almost got in an accident
She swerved we missed no hit
She throws some signs but it's alright
I get my coffee from the bulimic barista
It's okay your secrets safe with me hun
Tip a dollar cuz I'm not a baller
Just an honest individual looking
Looking for a spark to light my fire
Just a spark to Ignite some desire
Days work put in, forgot to take my vitamins
Oh well come home to write this.

Born and raised in Utah, the land of polygamy and religious ties, Dakota Combs is an up and coming poet in the local art scene. A field service engineer by trade, he states that he “builds and creates thing,” a nod not just to his job, but to his art form as well. One of his underlying philosophies is that in life, we are all faced with multiple roads to take and no matter which way we take, we will still be judged, so we might as well pave our own.