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

Psalm 24

My grandma is obsessed with Psalm 24. Each time the flavoured words drip from her mouth, she's always in a good mood. "This is my shelter," she proclaims. If you turn to another chapter, she'll whip you back with her pure, delicate voice. I've always been awed by her commitment, how her aging heart lyrically turns water into wine. Today, morning devotion is here again and she's grinning with a sound warning. "My eyes may be dead but my heart is immortal." I'm eating the words over and over again like melodic chiming bells. This time, I'm not swearing deceitfully.

Oluwatosin Okupa, from the shores of Lagos, breathes fearlessly with a creative focus centered on restoring hope and sanity through the enriching power of words. Instagram and Twitter @ladyviabel

A.M. Reflection

There He Is