Substitute

I’m an intruder

Filling another’s shoes

Shoes that I’m not trained to fill

That are too big

Not comfortable

And that often leave me unfulfilled

An outsider

Thrust into a situation

Where I am supposed to

Pretend to be

An insider

But I know none of the answers

Can tell little beyond what the sheet says

And have no rights to

Privileges granted to another

I get called

I show up

I read an outline

Bare bones of a structure

With no knowledge of how things work

Names to go with faces or

How to get to places

And for 75 bucks a day

I pretend to be what I

Spent 4.5 years and

Thousands of dollars

Learning how to be

Except I’m not a

Teacher

I can pretend all I want

But I will only be a

Substitute