It Means

The bargain was never really the sin,
No matter whether the artificer
Tricks and wins or has to pay in the end.

For the audience, the artificer’s
Gross indulgence serves justification
For the punishment, plus thrills by proxy.

Just watching whichever version of Faust,
The wish-fulfillment becoming unhinged,
Followed by the full horror of the cost,

That’s as much of the morality play
As any moment of contract itself.
The bargain, the great metaphor, is one

Of those cultural knots twined to attract
As much meaning-making as possible.