Oranges

“Oranges” is a 56-line poem based on an actual experience Soto had as a boy (see Contextual Analysis). The poem details a 12-year-old boy's first date with a girl he is trying to impress. The poem vividly captures their walk to the drugstore in the winter, the boy’s successful attempt to treat the girl, his skillful avoidance of potential humiliation, as well as the actions of the saleswoman at the store. It is a narrative of infatuation, quick thinking, self-sacrifice, and kindness.

All narrative poems have a beginning, a middle, and an end, operating almost like a work of fiction. This poem is positioned as a memory since the speaker notes “I was twelve” and the events are relayed in past tense. That the memory is a happy one isn’t immediately apparent. At first, Soto paints a picture of a gloomy winter day: The temperature is low enough that the boy can hear “Frost cracking” (Line 5) and see his own “breath / Before me, then gone” (Lines 6-7) as he walks. At first, the reader doubts this could be a pleasant errand and wonders if “the first time I walked / With a girl” (Lines 1-2) turns out badly.