A poem from the Yokut Native American tribe residing in the Central Valley of California
Come not near my songs,
You who are not my lover,
Lest from out that ambush
Leaps my heart upon you!
When my songs are glowing
As an almond thicket
With the bloom upon it,
Lies my heart in ambush
All amid my singing;
Come not near my songs,
You who are not my lover!
Do not hear my songs,
You who are not my lover,
Over-sweet the heart is
Where my love has bruised it,
Breathe you not that fragrance,
You who are not my lover!
Do not stoop above my heart
With its languor on you,
Lest I should not know you
From my own belovèd,
Lest from out my singing
Leaps my heart upon you!