A brenda is missing—where is she?
Summon the seeds & weeds, the desert whooshes. Phone the finch
with the crowded beak;      a little pretenda
                 is learning to read
in the afternoon light near the cactus caves. Near oleander & pulpy
caves with the click-click of the wren & the shkrrrr of the thrasher,
                 a skinny pretenda is learning
to read till the missing Brenda
                 is found. Drop of syllables like olives near the saguaro.
Nancy Drew will find the secret in raincoats & wednesdays
                 & sticks. Nancy whose spine is yellow
                 or blue will find the brenda in 1962,
Nancy                 who has no mother,
                 who takes suggestions from her father & ignores them.

Gleam goes the wren ignoring the thorn. They cannot tell the difference.
Click of the smart dog’s nails on linoleum.
                                  Nancy bends over the clues,
of brenda’s locket & dress. Word by word
                 between syllables a clue. Where has the summer gone, the autumn—
are they missing too? Maybe Nancy
                 will parse the secret & read the book report on Nancy Drew:
“neat pretty sly cute.” Syllable by syllable
                 & still no brenda! Nancy
puts her hand to her forehead; is the missing
girl in the iron bird? is the clue to the girl in the locket?