Bio
Emma Sheppard (she/her) is an English professor, teacher educator, and writer living in Toronto, ON. She writes on issues of identity, grief, family, and more. Her work can be found forthcoming in Stonecoast Review, Soliloquies Anthology and The Bookends Review, and on Substack and Instagram at @emma.out.loud.
Emma Sheppard
Every Year
after Lucille Clifton
Every year I think the leaves have
finished changing long before
they have. I take my photos, I emit
my oohs and aahs. I acknowledge
their beauty. Before they are done.
And then one day, when it's far
colder than I feel it should be, I
notice. This is what they're supposed
to be. This is what they were becoming.
Every year I am surprised by what
was always coming. Every year I forget
what can happen before a fall. Every year
I am surprised how long it takes to change.