He Only Had a Minute Elijah Cummings: October 20, 2019 Brent Jones At least two titles have referred to the poem: "God's Minute" by Dr, Benjamin E. Mays Also known as "Just a Minute." ______ I only have a minute. Sixty seconds in it. Forced upon me, I did not choose it, But I know that I must use it. Give account if I abuse it. Suffer if I lose it. Only a tiny little minute, But eternity is in it. Elijah Cummings recited this in his very first speech to Congress. The poem was written by Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, a pioneering civil rights leader who was the president of Morehouse College during Martin Luther King Jr.’s education there.