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

The Visitation

I wanted to stop by the funeral, see off Uncle Paul. Want isn’t the right word. I figured Uncle Paul would’ve gotten a kick out of it. My uncle’s letters tracked estrangement, being the outcast, seeing family only at funerals. Now it was his funeral, so it only seemed right. I hadn’t seen my half-siblings in twenty years. I walked towards my brother, “So, we gonna hug or say hi, or just no?” His eyes said no but he offered his arm stiffly. We embraced sideways, almost a no-touch hug. Plenty long enough. Let go and made my way outside.

Kat Marie Yoas is a queer humorist, writer, performer, candlemaker, birder, and psychotherapist. substack.com/@katmarieyoas Instagram: @omgkatmarie

Foul Ball

A Shy Photo