This feature, chosen by Guest Editor Merrick Sloane, is from The New Life by Wendy Wisner (Cornerstone Press 2024).
The New Life
Because there is nothing
more beautiful than my son running
shirtless in the yard, pink chalk
streaking his chest,
wildflowers squeezed
in his sweaty palms—
And because he’s impatient for more
cherry blossoms
to rain down on his head,
he walks over to the tree,
flings his arms around it,
and shakes—
And because that doesn’t work,
he waves me over and says,
Make it rain—
And because, I explain to him,
the blossoms will only fall
when they’re ready,
a wind catches, as if it knew—
And because it’s now drizzling
ripe cherry blossoms
sideways, across my son’s face,
his father comes out the side door—
And because his father
makes me feel blossomed
and possible, I believe for a moment
this is the new life
and I can trust it not to hurt me.
Wendy Wisner (she/her) is the author of three books of poems, most recently The New Life, published by Cornerstone Press (University of Wisconsin Stevens-Point) and named a finalist for the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year. Wendy’s poems and essays have appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review, Prairie Schooner, Spoon River Review, Passages North, Verse Daily, The Washington Post, Lilith Magazine, and elsewhere. 
Merrick Sloane (they/them) is a neuro-Queer 90’s kid and nonbinary poet, editor, and researcher from Oklahoma. A Best of the Net and AWP Intro Journal Awards Winner, Merrick holds an MFA from UT, Knoxville. Merrick’s work has received support from The DreamYard Project’s Rad(ical) Poetry Consortium and Poet’s House. A 2025 Garden Party Collective Neurodivergence / Intersectionality contest winner, Merrick’s poetry also appears in citizen trans* {project}, ANMLY, Seattle Journal for Social Justice, Fruitslice, Puerto del Sol, and elsewhere. They are Associate Poetry Editor of Doubleback Review. Merrick writes so that others may feel radically loved and is deeply committed to helping create a world that liberates us all.
