Six things you need to know about me

1.
By my true name I am
'Beloved, Alder tree grove, One who smites',
but I present myself as Viddax
because I want to be me and more
and there are worse things to be called.

2.
I am a Pisces Man
and have a English Literature and Philosophy Combined Honours Degree
which means I am all words and little to show for it
all mystery, misdirection, and emotion
just short a millennia or two for it to be fashionable.

3.
I am lost.
A Pisces in the time when even organized religion is shaky,
A man in the time when gender is more like a game of scrabble,
(and false gender equality makes being a male a dirty privilege rather than a simple right)
An Englishman in the time of Brexit; need I say more?,
A Monkey of the Chinese Zodiac in the time of the internet and machine,
A mixed-race moustache grower in the time of hipsters and fundamentalist Islam
(both give the fuzz a bad name),
A Philosophy student in the time of fake news and social media,
An English Literature student in the time of Netflix and YouTube.
Wrong time, wrong face perhaps?

4.
I have an awful memory for names and details
as four of my school friends were called 'Chris',
but can generally come up with an old pun
or joke at the drop of a hat
or a proverb when push comes to shove.

5.
It seems I can speak and translate idiot;
with an eclectic taste and little reliance on technology
added to vague half-remembered hints
I can help remember that famous person's name
or roughly where that quote comes from
and what is meant by that garbled mixed-up metaphor.

6.
I live most of my life in day dreams and imagination
and for all my sarcastic words, I am not that much a cynic
as I do believe in the goodness of humanity
although I have never been in love:
I've loved and been infatuated,
but true love is a two-way street and for now I walk a lonesome road.

(7. When all is said and done, I'm still alive so its not all bad. Just a shame I'm alive but not living.)