Kenneth Fearing – C Stands for Civilization

They are able, with science, to measure
the millionth of a millionth of an electron-volt
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY COMES BUT ONCE
The natives can take to caves in the hills,
said the British M.P., when we bomb their huts
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY COMES BUT ONCE

Electric razors
I am the law, said Mayor Hague
The lynching was televised,
we saw the whole thing from beginning to end,
we heard the screams and the crackle of flames
in a sound­ proof room
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY COMES BUT ONCE

You are born but once
You have your chance to live but once
You go mad and put a bullet through your head
but once

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY COMES BUT OINCE
Once too soon, and just a little too fast
Once too late and a little too slow, just once too often