Scharpf's poems can be defined as expanded haiku. In spite of their brevity, however, they are suited to record physical and emotional journeys. Scharpf's verse has a distinctive colloquial diction: a sort of noisy stream of consciousness established by unorthodox syntax, sparse punctuation and frequent resort to verbalisms. Scharpf engages the reader with vivid snapshots of recognizable situations and feelings and thus the poems resonate with the poet's experience.