Julie L Scharf

I pour myself into
Glasses of white, marble
Pitchers I’ve
Looked at too many times—

I lose myself,
I pour myself—
Escape,
Within.

I pour myself into
My chair
Bed
And
Into the dress
And corset
I wore last night—

Life
And
Characters I write on pages—

Individual shells
Grey matter
Something else
Or even
You.

I realized through all the years of
Searching for something to pour myself into,

I’m not going to pour myself into the
Wrong mold
Your grand agenda
The old full suit
Or
The role of seventh grade teacher—
Instead, I pour myself into the
Words
Conversation
Dance of writing
And
That one youth who will last beyond my years.