RUMSFELD
No one seems to care what he knows now
that he has entered the great unknown,
he of the known knowns, the known
unknowns, the unknown knowns,
the unknown unknowns, and I’m alone,
afraid, unknowing if anyone else knows
or cares to know what I know or think
I know of what happens when you find
you know something you didn’t know
before, realize now that you know
you still have no idea what you don’t
know now that an unknown is known.
Did he know this, or was it foggy
in that moment on Tuesday when he woke
from an unremembered dream
with a hunch there was something
out there he should know about
the great unknown?
—from Poets Respond
July 11, 2021
__________
Jay Brecker: “I couldn’t help wondering about what Rumsfeld thought he knew about what happens next.”
