Five Minutes explores five minutes of a life in one hundred words. Five minutes is edited by Susanna Baird, with editorial support from managing editor Maria s. picone, newsletter editor kate meen, and founding reader bobbi lerman, plus our rotating team of guest readers, who you can meet in the latest newsletteR. Five Minutes was founded in October 2020, with the Salem (Mass.)-based writing group Carrot Cake Writers supplying the journal’s first pieces. We’d love to read your five. Submit here

A Thousand Words

The black and white photo is loosely tucked into an old photo album of my late aunt. Two little girls sit side by side on a chair in someone’s front yard. The dark-skinned toddler seated on the right with the poofy braids and shy smile is me. I love her black Mary Janes with the grosgrain bows across the instep, her dress with the white Peter Pan collar and white insets. I vaguely remember that the steps in the background were painted red. I want the dress to be red, too. I hold this moment in time and I cry.

Donna Williams is a self-published author who still struggles with the nakedness of sharing what she writes. She is currently working on a memoir about her upbringing in the Jim Crow South. Find Donna at lifepainlaughter.com and on Twitter and Instagram @donnanotdiva. 

Sentient

Mother Nature