The Perils of the Metric System

As 2 cm is clearly 0.787 inches

why would someone say it was ½

when clearly closer to 1 if he

had to round it to something

recognizable to the average American,

who may only dimly remember that

there are twelve inches to a foot

or much less to a poet where a foot

is a series of accents, or to a Frenchman

who only knows the accents egu and grave,

much less a foot which is the same

as 30.48 cm, or shall we round

it up to thirty and one half.