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

Open Hands

Three blocks away, my husband and I hear the rolling, roaring, rushing of 3,160 tons of water plummeting over a cliff on the US-Canada border. We’re drawn to the sound like moths to a porch light. We weave through the crowd until there’s only a railing between us and the whirling currents below. I lean over, close my eyes, feel the mist settle on my pores and eyelashes. Something jumps inside me. The baby inside my womb dances—my adrenaline coursing through her veins. I place my palms on my belly, hold my world with open hands.

Bethany Jarmul is a writer, editor, and poet. Her work has appeared in 50+ literary magazines and been nominated for Best of the Net. Instagram and Twitter @BethanyJarmul, bethanyjarmul.com

Surprise Party

Heliotrope