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

Growing Out

I stood at the mirror and traced my childhood with my finger along the white roots that appeared in my part. I watched myself watch myself as I stroked the border between dye and die, between weeks of neglect, between memories of being teased and memories of being desired. Getting my first white hair as a child, chasing the ever-growing line of age. Now I stood at the mirror and counted. Remembered. Watched myself watch myself. A fingerprint smudge over my eyes. A speck of toothpaste on my cheek. A bottle of color in my hand. Time to cover up.

Miriam BC Tobin is a playwright and theatre artist from Seattle. She also runs a writing organization aimed at community. www.mirbct.com and www.scriblab.org

Wrapping Paper

Chalk