and the metric system

Threadbare tapestry,
stitches illustrating
the last few popes,
or a battle,
or the helmeted
faces of Saxon defenders,
squaring up against
Norman cavalry
as the winds whipped —
and away on Gaulish shores,
Caesar prepared
an anachronistic invasion,
while Vandals littered
the Underground
like gnomes hiding out in Tara,
after the Fomorians absconded,
moved to New Mexico,
tired of cloudy days
and drizzle
and the metric system.