Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Michael McClure’s "Ghost Tantra: 2" continues his radical experiment with language, sound, and consciousness, further exploring his unique blend of incantation, biological poetry, and mystical vision. As in "Ghost Tantra: 1," this poem defies conventional poetic expectations, relying on non-verbal utterances and spontaneous exclamations to create an almost ritualistic experience. McClure’s work here is not meant for quiet contemplation but for vocalization, for being physically performed and felt—a direct engagement with breath, vibration, and primal energy.

The poem opens with a paradoxical declaration: "PLEASURE FEARS ME." This inversion of expectation suggests an awareness that surpasses conventional emotional states. Instead of the speaker fearing pleasure or seeking it, pleasure itself recoils, as though unable to withstand the intensity of his presence. This immediately sets a tone of heightened, almost mystical power. The subsequent phrases—"FOOT ROSE, FOOT BREATH,"—juxtapose the physical (foot) with the organic and ephemeral (rose, breath). This recalls McClure’s interest in the bodily and the transcendent, a fusion of the material and the spiritual, much like the Beat fascination with Zen Buddhism, where the body is not separate from enlightenment but a vehicle for it.

McClure then launches into his signature beast language, unleashing a torrent of raw, animalistic sounds: "BY BLAHHR MOKGROOOOOOO TARRR nowp tytath brooooooooooooooooooo." These sounds resist rational interpretation, functioning instead as pure sonic energy. They evoke ancient chants, shamanic utterances, and spontaneous vocal outbursts that bypass intellectualization. This is language stripped to its pre-verbal core, a return to a time before words were domesticated into structured meaning. McClure’s approach mirrors the Beat Generation’s rejection of linear thought and its embrace of spontaneous, first-thought-best-thought composition.

In contrast to the wild, chaotic incantations, the poem briefly shifts to a dream narrative: "In the middle of the night I dreamed I was a creature like the great Tibetan Yogi Milarepa." This reference to Milarepa—a legendary 11th-century Tibetan mystic and poet who achieved enlightenment through extreme asceticism and meditative practice—adds a layer of spiritual significance. Milarepa is known for his spontaneous songs of realization, his transformation from a vengeful youth to a revered spiritual master. By aligning himself with Milarepa, McClure suggests that his own poetic process is akin to a yogic practice—an act of self-transformation through vocalization, breath, and deep, intuitive insight.

The speaker recounts singing a song in the dream, beginning with: "Home lies in front of you not in the past. Follow your nose to it." This line carries "great mystic import, both apparent and hidden." On the surface, it suggests an embrace of the present moment—a rejection of nostalgia or backward-looking thinking in favor of intuitive movement forward. The directive to "follow your nose" implies an instinctual, bodily wisdom, much like an animal tracking a scent or a meditator focusing on breath. This is a moment of clarity within the otherwise chaotic sonic landscape, reinforcing the idea that within the beast language, within the raw physicality of sound, lies a hidden spiritual truth.

But McClure does not allow the reader to settle into this reflection for long. The poem soon plunges back into its ecstatic vocalizations: "GOOOOOOOOOOR ! GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH ! GOOOOOOOO. ROOOOOOOOOOOH ! POWFF ! RAHH ! BLAHHR!" These sounds are primal, powerful, untranslatable. They suggest an eruption of energy, as if the visionary dream of Milarepa cannot be contained in conventional speech but must explode outward in pure sound. This is not a descent into meaninglessness but rather an expansion beyond traditional meaning into a more elemental form of expression.

Structurally, "Ghost Tantra: 2" follows the same unpredictable, non-linear form as its predecessor, reinforcing the idea that poetry should be experienced organically rather than confined to rigid expectations. The juxtaposition of beast language with the Milarepa dream suggests a balance between raw physicality and mystical enlightenment, between the animal and the divine. McClure does not see these forces as oppositional but as intertwined aspects of being. The tantra of the title—rooted in Eastern spiritual traditions—suggests a practice of transformation through direct experience, whether through sound, vision, or bodily sensation.

Ultimately, "Ghost Tantra: 2" is a poetic enactment of McClure’s belief that language, at its most powerful, should not merely describe reality but embody it. The poem is not just about altered states of consciousness—it is an altered state, an invitation to engage with poetry not as a passive reader but as an active participant in its rhythms, its sounds, and its visceral energy. It is a chant, a meditation, a shamanic utterance, a Beat invocation. In rejecting conventional language, McClure offers something more primal, more instinctual, something that does not merely mean but lives.

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