The first time I walked
With a girl, I was twelve,
Cold, and weighted down
With two oranges in my jacket.
December. Frost cracking
Beneath my steps, my breath
Before me, then gone,
As I walked toward
Her house, the one whose
Porch light burned yellow
Night and day, in any weather.
A dog barked at me, until
She came out pulling
At her gloves, face bright
With rouge. I smiled,
Touched her shoulder, and led
Her down the street, across
A used car lot and a line
Of newly planted trees,
Until we were breathing
Before a drugstore. We
Entered, the tiny bell
Bringing a saleslady
Down a narrow aisle of goods.
I turned to the candies
Tiered like bleachers,
And asked what she wanted -
Light in her eyes, a smile
Starting at the corners
Of her mouth. I fingered
A nickel in my pocket,
And when she lifted a chocolate
That cost a dime,
I didn't say anything.
I took the nickel from
My pocket, then an orange,
And set them quietly on
The counter. When I looked up,
The lady's eyes met mine,
And held them, knowing
Very well what it was all
About.

Outside,
A few cars hissing past,
Fog hanging like old
Coats between the trees.
I took my girl's hand
in mine for two blocks,
Then released it to let
Her unwrap the chocolate.
I peeled my orange
That was so bright against
The gray of December
That, from some distance,
Someone might have thought
I was making a fire in my hands.

I've been reading this poem and have found it very enjoyable to read. However I want to look deeper into the poen line by line. What I have noticed so far is that when the girl is talked about, she is always associated with a brightness and a glow. What do the oranges connote? Do you think the two oranges weighing him down is the weight of his relationship or something? "Beneath my steps, my breath" = he is weightless when he is around her, infatuated perhaps? "I turned to the candies Tiered like bleachers" = perhaps connoting people that might sit on bleachers, kind of like this is a show and people are watching them, a drama? The deeper I go into the poem, the less I seem to understand. Anyone have any interesting acknowledgements of the poem or anything else you've noticed, any metaphors, connotations? What do you feel the oranges represent?