Nancy Drew

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by Ron Koertge

Merely pretty, she made up for it with vim.
And she got to say things like, "But, gosh,
what if these plans should fall into the wrong
hands?" and it was pretty clear she didn't mean
plans for a party or a trip to the museum, but
something involving espionage and a Nazi or two.

In fact, the handsome exchange student turns
out to be a Fascist sympathizer. When he snatches
Nancy along with some blueprints, she knows he
has something more sinister in mind than kissing
her with his mouth open.

Locked in the pantry of an abandoned farm house,
Nancy makes a radio out of a shoelace and a muffin.
Pretty soon the police show up, and everything's
hunky dory.

Nancy accepts their thanks, but she's subdued.
It's not like her to fall for a cad. Even as she plans
a short vacation to sort our her emotions she knows
there will be a suspicious waiter, a woman in a green
off the shoulder dress, and her very jittery husband.

Very well. But no more handsome boys like the last one:
the part in his hair that was sheer propulsion, that way
he had of lifting his eyes to hers over the custard,
those feelings that made her not want to be brave
confident and daring, polite, sensitive and caring.

Comments

  1. La FraméricaineMay 7, 2009 at 3:51 AM

    Now, what else could Nancy Drew have possibly wanted to be?

    8th grade, an apple, a sofa, and Nancy Drew--the blueprint for my entire adulthood!

    ReplyDelete
  2. PepeBMay 7, 2009 at 4:03 AM

    I so wish to have the capabiltiy to make a radio out of a shoe lace and a muffin ...

    ReplyDelete
  3. robertMay 7, 2009 at 4:10 AM

    Just thought about who and where I am - this little story fits so nicely into my thoughts, proofing another time, that eyes, as small as they are, are many times able to 'see' what is not presented upon a surface.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownMay 7, 2009 at 5:01 AM

    Both of my daughter's were so enamoured of the Nancy Drew books as children and I'm proud to say they've been saved and passed on to the one and only granddaughter!

    ReplyDelete
  5. debraMay 7, 2009 at 5:20 AM

    I wanted to have a girlfriend named George, a boyfriend called Ned, and to be described as the young sleuth. I also wanted a snappy car.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Viewtiful_JustinMay 7, 2009 at 6:14 AM

    Oh my gosh! I adore this poem! It's all...blah blah blah until the end, and then I go, "Oh my gosh! Brilliant!"

    ReplyDelete
  7. PyzahnMay 7, 2009 at 6:39 AM

    Nancy was indeed ahead of her time. She gave me something to think about other than The Monkees or GoGo boots. I loved the way Carolyn Keene described what she wore -- I wanted to be that classic.

    Then I discovered Brenda Starr and I just wanted to become a newspaper reporter who ran off with a mysterious man with a patch over one eye.

    Whhhaaat!?!? No judgment. All teens are fickle.

    ReplyDelete
  8. RudeeMay 7, 2009 at 6:41 AM

    Poor Nancy. It would seem she didn't hone her Danger Boy detection skills before she met the cad. Sometimes I think we can only learn this technique through the School of Hard Knocks.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Rosaria WilliamsMay 7, 2009 at 8:24 AM

    We love Nancy through and through.

    ReplyDelete
  10. English RiderMay 7, 2009 at 10:18 AM

    Ah, to have some vim. Involuntary upward twitching at mouth corners for the rest of the day.

    ReplyDelete
  11. CharMay 7, 2009 at 11:11 AM

    I loved Nancy...I wanted to be Nancy. Especially with that mustang! woo

    ReplyDelete
  12. C.M. JacksonMay 7, 2009 at 4:15 PM

    a walk down memory lane...how sweet a time, a Nancy Drew book and a place under a shade tree--I would stay until I finished. thanks-c

    ReplyDelete
  13. UnknownMay 7, 2009 at 6:55 PM

    I also saved some of my Nancy Drew mysteries from back in the day and tried reading them to the grrrls before bed. We couldn't get very far before we erupted into giggles. Some of it is difficult to cross over the years to a couple of Boomettes. Another one that moves us to tears in laughter is Cherry Ames. Love both those brave hearted chickadees.

    ReplyDelete
  14. NanceMay 7, 2009 at 7:03 PM

    Am I the only one who was a Trixie Belden fan? Anyone...anyone at all...????

    ReplyDelete

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