Carl Sandburg

Red-headed Restaurant Cashier

Red-headed Restaurant Cashier - meaning Summary

Longing and Everyday Desire

The poem urges a vivacious, red-headed restaurant cashier to be unabashedly herself—shake back her hair, laugh freely, keep her freckles. The speaker frames her as the object of widespread searching: thousands of men seek a red-headed girl and one might eventually recognize love in her everyday role. The tone mixes admiration and gentle counsel, turning an ordinary workplace scene into a small, hopeful portrait of desire and possibility.

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SHAKE back your hair, O red-headed girl. Let go your laughter and keep your two proud freckles on your chin. Somewhere is a man looking for a red-headed girl and some day maybe he will look into your eyes for a restaurant cashier and find a lover, maybe. Around and around go ten thousand men hunting a red-headed girl with two freckles on her chin. I have seen them hunting, hunting. Shake back your hair; let go your laughter.

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