La Vie en Rệve
Uliana Trylowsky
June 23, 2024
She takes her morning café crème outdoors in Les Lices.
Meanders the narrow streets of La Bastide in the afternoons.
Sips an evening spritz at the Café St. Jean.
Lives within a foreign dream – from her desk in Texas.
While the work lies untouched.
“Why was I not born in France?”
Her chest feels tight. Heavy.
She could leave, move to Rennes, Bordeaux, Paris.
Few women nearing sixty pack up,
Leaving behind a husband, cat and home.
There must be some who escape.
The ones who chose the greener path.
The ones with freedom.
The ones with ties that do not bind.
The happy, lonely ones.
How can the now feel such a burden?
How can love impede a dream?
Is it better left alone?
She takes her morning coffee in the kitchen.
Watches the cat meander the garden.
Sips wine with her husband in the evening.
Falls asleep reading Colette en francais.
Uliana Trylowsky is a transplanted Ukrainian-Canadian who has lived in Southeast Texas for over 25 years. While she struggled to accustom herself to the unique qualities of the region, she now calls it home and, until the war in Ukraine, found herself to be quite a happy person.
