Dru Philippou
Taos, NM, USA

“First Naiveté”

The latest young recruit at the ashram is seated on the hallway floor practicing tabla. Inside the temple room, another man, robed in saffron and a yellow wool hat, gives praise to Durga. Someone else is chanting. Evening aarti begins and a pujari calls out the deities.

on the altar
flowers, always flowers
so vibrant
they seem unreal
until I touch them

Author’s Note: “First Naiveté” is a concept developed by French philosopher Paul Ricoeur that outlines our naïve understanding of things, first perceiving them without judgement, then in a more critical way. He also describes a “second naiveté” that exists beyond the realm of criticism.