Ode to the Bramford, Rosemary’s Baby

Guy has a swagger that’s hard to deny and the neighbors
are so friendly. Natives of this brownstone, they ply Roe
with vodka blush and chocolate mousse, a mix delivering
bad dreams of mouse bites, storms at sea, a pope insisting
that she kiss his ring. Some say the Bramford has a wicked
history, covens and a man who ate his own baby. Rosemary
does not believe, hangs curtains, cleans the oven, feeds Guy
tuna sandwiches on white, buys plump pillows for the window
seat, ignores whispers she hears through walls at night, tries
to make this place to make this place I will make a home.

Laura Bandy teaches at the University of Illinois-Springfield. She lives in Jacksonville, Illinois, home of the Ferris Wheel.