Half-Size Dishwasher Routine Voice

“Like all routines, however mindless, this

is one I backed into. But it’s–

don’t fear: don’t wake up half-drunk,

hating yourself: you’re tremendous,

one of the best–and it’s

you there, only you attempting

hard memory at what muscle memory.

Remember things, not emotions.

There are reasons to stay one place a long time.”

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John Deming’s new chapbook 8 Poems was just published by Eye For an Iris Press, and his four-song Tugboat EP, which features members of P-Funk, was released this summer by BozFonk Music. Other poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Boston Review, FENCE, Verse Daily, Tarpaulin Sky, POOL and elsewhere.  He is Editor-in-Chief of Coldfront Magazine, lives in New York City, and teaches at Baruch College and LIM College.