Vice makes virtue possible to know,
like white chalk on black or green,
thus there is no role I would not play -
sage, madman, robber, king -
changing skin and gait
on a Shakespearean stage;
the more identities I can have,
the more knowledgeable I can be,
act deliberately,
not re-act mechanically,
or let myself be led by Loki spirits
hovering near.

This reminds me of a play
in which a traveler lost both sight and way
but that was before I found the devil
(though it took some million years)
who kept me hopping leg to leg,
loss to gain and back,
self to self, parts missing:
the one with a stash of scalps
who told me I'd been chosen
and others hadn't.