Call It Our Happy Place
written by: Milagros Vilaplana
I tug his small hand as we prance muzzled
onto a spraying fountain of Bellagio joy.
Families of cutout people in an architectural model
suddenly start walking and talking to each other.
Some sit inside chalked circles on the lawn
while little girls run around shooting bubbles.
Last year’s round-the-clock-calendar
spooked our streets into ghost towns,
afraid to face the emptiness I pretended
to be the expert recluse, but today
I belong with all the lovely people who
masquerade their phantom smiles
clinging to their children at Glendale Galleria.
Milagros Vilaplana
Milagros is an international "border person": straddling between cities of Tijuana & San Diego all her life. Culturally Mexican with strong Spanish upbringing from dad who moved to America as refugee from Spanish Civil War. On her mother's side she has a straight line to the Natives American Aztecs, she was told as a child, and supported by evidence of DNA report. For decades she wrote poetry in her native Spanish, sharing it only with close associates. She has gravitated to English now for past three years. As for her writing style, she's overcoming a passion for experimental, magical realism, and exuberance with words (at times). She has two unpublished chapbooks, one on nature and the environment, the other on a toddler's life discoveries. Milagros holds a BS in Psychology (Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico), a degree in Family Counseling (Institute for Clinical Behavioral Sciences, Mexico), and another in Instructional Design (San Diego State University (SDSU)), and various Certificates in Latin American Contemporary Literature (ITAM University), Creative Writing (Wesleyan University) & Poetry (San Diego Writer's Ink). She is currently pursuing an MFA at SDSU. She has been a training & organizational development consultant for the last 15 years of her professional career.
Latest posts by Milagros Vilaplana (see all)
- Call It Our Happy Place - August 15, 2021
- Octopus Damsel - May 12, 2021