Eight-line Poems

Euphoria

By Way of Explanation

Tolkien made the point that the phrase, “cellar door,” if spelled, “celador,” was really a beautiful word. If a linguistic scholar as learned as the author The Lord of the Rings trilogy should say so, who am I to disagree with him? And it is easy for me to agree with grammarly.com’s choice of beautiful English words, particularly as “euphoria” is one of my favourites.

Many years ago, I was playing an online game called Train Station to pass the time before discovering WdC. When founding my town to be attached to my particular train station, I opted to name the place Euphoria. It struck me as just the type of name a town in the western frontier of America might have chosen. Below is a screen shot of the name emblazoned on my station (yes, it still exists in spite of being neglected for so long).

Euphoria

Perhaps there is a town of that name,
some spot on a dry and featureless plain
that needed to express the hope and vision
of its founders against all appearance.
It may have seemed impossibly ambitious
in those early days when the dust storms
and tumble weeds blew through the main street,
but now it seems quite apt for a hidden Eden.


Line Count: 8
Free Verse
For Express It In Eight, February 17 2021
Prompt: Euphoria.