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

Crash Cart

The elevator door opened to chaos. A patient was coding. Nurses raced a crash cart down the hall. I held my breath. I crossed my arms. I gave myself the hug I needed. I knew. I walked slowly in the wake of the scrambling nurses and frantic doctors. I could hear them yelling, “Come on, come on. Stay with us, your daughter is on her way.” I exhaled slowly when I heard their collective sigh as the heart monitor began making its beeping sound again. I walked to the nurse’s station. “How’s she doing?” I asked, pretending I didn’t know.

Lisa Conquet is a psychotherapist and transformational life coach who often writes poetry and has begun to allow herself to write memoir. clarityandvision.substack.com Instagram: @clarityandvisioncoaching X: @lisaconquetlcsw @lisaconquet


Covenant

Valentine's Day