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

At Oldman River

The dog enjoys his evening walk, a white tail in tall grass. Beavers knit their homes along the edges. Water widens in the curves, slows down. I want to age like this river. Let the clay that surrounds me erode without judgement. Become so beautiful that no one will feel a need to ask about my origins. And every night, I’ll look up and watch clouds temper their softness in the glow of a day’s final light. But for now, the dog barks and turns towards home. In the dimness, the river becomes unseen. A voice that whispers beside us.

Jenny Wong is a writer, traveler, and occasional business analyst. Her favorite places to wander are Tokyo alleys, Singapore hawker centers, and Parisian cemeteries. Find Jenny on Twitter @jenwithwords.

Twitching

Bathroom Classroom