in reply to Scope, package, and 'my' variables

Changing packages doesn't change lexical scope. Only squiggly brackets do that1. But, the good news is that package declarations don't need squiggly brackets to work. So, if you want to declare a variable at the top of your file and have it be a file-scoped lexical, it will work just like (it seems) you want.

  1. That's not exactly true, but it's a good rule of thumb.

Being right, does not endow the right to be rude; politeness costs nothing.
Being unknowing, is not the same as being stupid.
Expressing a contrary opinion, whether to the individual or the group, is more often a sign of deeper thought than of cantankerous belligerence.
Do not mistake your goals as the only goals; your opinion as the only opinion; your confidence as correctness. Saying you know better is not the same as explaining you know better.

In Section Seekers of Perl Wisdom