winter poem #2

Since it is FREEZING right now and Christmas is coming, I'm going to focus on winter poems for awhile. To start out, here's one of my favorites:

Oranges

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 a distance,

Someone might have thought

I was making a fire in my hands.

-- Gary Soto

One thing I love about this poem is the vivid imagery: the porch light glowing on the frost, the candies, the fog "hanging like old coats," and especially the last few lines. There are certain poems that make me want to paint them - like the balloon-man poem, which always makes me think of watercolors - and this is definitely one of them. Just imagine how extraordinary that orange looks in the boy's hands as he looks down at them, right after holding hands with his girl for two blocks.

Apparently, I have a thing for poems involving oranges.