> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://katecarruthers.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# The Poetry of D.H. Rumsfeld - Recent works by the secretary of defense. - A fabulous collection taken straight from the DOD website
- URL: https://katecarruthers.com/the-poetry-of-d-h-rumsfeld-recent-works-by-the-secretary-of-defense-a-fabulous-collection-taken-straight-from-the-dod-website/
- Published: 2005-12-29T01:17:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-01T03:52:24.000Z
- Author: Kate Carruthers
- Tags: ideas, communication, inspiration, poetry, politics, #Migrated-1775015344493, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-04-01 14:49

On the Slate website [Hart Seely](http://slate.msn.com/id/2081042/?ref=katecarruthers.com) has collected some of the truly classic poems of our time - they are taken from briefings listed on the Dept of Defense website.

> **The Unknown**  
> As we know,  
> There are known knowns.  
> There are things we know we know.  
> We also know  
> There are known unknowns.  
> That is to say  
> We know there are some things  
> We do not know.  
> But there are also unknown unknowns,  
> The ones we don't know  
> We don't know.  
>  
> —Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing  
>  
> **Glass Box**   
> You know, it's the old glass box at the—  
> At the gas station,  
> Where you're using those little things  
> Trying to pick up the prize,  
> And you can't find it.  
> It's—  
>  
> And it's all these arms are going down in there,  
> And so you keep dropping it  
> And picking it up again and moving it,  
> But—  
>  
> Some of you are probably too young to remember those—  
> Those glass boxes,  
> But—  
>  
> But they used to have them  
> At all the gas stations  
> When I was a kid.  
>  
> —Dec. 6, 2001, Department of Defense news briefing  
>  
> **A Confession**  
> Once in a while,  
> I'm standing here, doing something.  
> And I think,  
> "What in the world am I doing here?"  
> It's a big surprise.  
>  
> —May 16, 2001, interview with the New York Times  
>  
> **Happenings**  
> You're going to be told lots of things.  
> You get told things every day that don't happen.  
>  
> It doesn't seem to bother people, they don't—  
> It's printed in the press.  
> The world thinks all these things happen.  
> They never happened.  
>  
> Everyone's so eager to get the story  
> Before in fact the story's there  
> That the world is constantly being fed  
> Things that haven't happened.  
>  
> All I can tell you is,  
> It hasn't happened.  
> It's going to happen.  
>  
> —Feb. 28, 2003, Department of Defense briefing  
>  
> **The Digital Revolution**  
> Oh my goodness gracious,  
> What you can buy off the Internet  
> In terms of overhead photography!  
>  
> A trained ape can know an awful lot  
> Of what is going on in this world,  
> Just by punching on his mouse  
> For a relatively modest cost!  
>  
> —June 9, 2001, following European trip  
>  
> **The Situation**  
> Things will not be necessarily continuous.  
> The fact that they are something other than perfectly continuous  
> Ought not to be characterized as a pause.  
> There will be some things that people will see.  
> There will be some things that people won't see.  
> And life goes on.  
>  
> —Oct. 12, 2001, Department of Defense news briefing  
>  
> **Clarity**  
> I think what you'll find,  
> I think what you'll find is,  
> Whatever it is we do substantively,  
> There will be near-perfect clarity  
> As to what it is.  
>  
> And it will be known,  
> And it will be known to the Congress,  
> And it will be known to you,  
> Probably before we decide it,  
> But it will be known.  
>  
> —Feb. 28, 2003, Department of Defense briefing  
> Source: [http://slate.msn.com/id/2081042/](http://slate.msn.com/id/2081042/?ref=katecarruthers.com)