Oranges

When the boy goes to pick up the girl, he mentions two things about her home: the barking “dog” (Line 12) and the “Porchlight” (Line 10) that “burned yellow / Night and day, in any weather” (Lines 10-11). The glow of the porch light is the first thing boy describes as brightly colored. Further, the fact that this lamp remains on “in any weather” (Line 11) makes it's light a beacon even on gloomy, gray days like the present one—a symbol of comfort and consistency.

Though the poem's other colorful light, the boy's fire-like oranges at this point are still hidden in his jacket, these two sources of illumination will be linked by the poem's end. The yellow of the porch light will be echoed by the orange “fire” (Line 56) that the boy will later seem to make in his hands—two sources of flame and heat that accompany the boy's early romantic successes.

The boy’s simple notation of the store’s array of candy being “Tiered like bleachers” (Line 26) indicates how important the products are to him in the moment. They are arranged on the shelf in rows or levels that are placed one above the other, like sports fans in bench seats.