How to put the “Esc” key in the status bar as a widget (physical “Esc” key missing)?

I am trying to use a MacBook Pro (2017) with Debian 12. The touch bar of this Mac does not work with the Linux kernel I run, at least for now. Unfortunately the touch bar has the Esc key on it. Apple understood in latest models that the Esc key had to be a physical key, but here I am sadly without an Esc key. Using vim is a hell, because I have to enter esc from a virtual keyboard every time. I was wondering if I can put the Esc key as a widget next to the clock (in XFCE if possible). This would solve at least the problem of locating where my virtual keyboard is. Any ideas?

Question by Rho Phi on Super User, licensed CC BY-SA. We show a short excerpt and link to the original thread as credit.