Buying Time

The first emperor of all China,
Qin Shi Huang,
a monster by every account,
hoped to prolong his days
by quaffing ampules of mercury.
They killed him.

Life has a kind of justice –
it thwarts and it cossets.
So how shall I get on?
The books are stacking up,
hardly a week without a parcel,
novels, poems, esoterica.
Several lifetimes’ reading –
a crafty move,
and gentler on the brain than mercury.

Neatly shelved and alphabetized,
they cock a snook
at the horror with the scythe.
Sorry, I’ve got to finish this one first.
Then this one. Then…

History is made up of disasters and disappointments,
brilliance rudely dimmed,
so I shall probably be bumping into
Qin Shi Huang
part-way through the letter B,
Balzac or Bronte.
I hope he’s impressed.