Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Michael McClure’s "Ghost Tantra: 51" continues his radical engagement with sound poetry, biological consciousness, and the fusion of human and non-human perception. Like the rest of his Ghost Tantras, this poem challenges the limits of language, combining lyrical reflection with a bestial, pre-verbal sonic energy that seeks to bypass rational thought. Written as both an exploration of poetic consciousness and an attempt to engage with the animal world—specifically, the lions to whom he famously read—this poem embodies McClure’s belief in poetry as an active, physical force rather than a mere vehicle for meaning.

The poem begins with a strikingly delicate image: "I LOVE TO THINK OF THE RED PURPLE ROSE IN THE DARKNESS COOLED BY THE NIGHT." This line stands out as one of the more traditionally poetic phrases in the Ghost Tantras, evoking a rich sensory experience—the contrast between color and darkness, the cooling of a flower at night, the merging of opposites. The image of the red purple rose suggests both sensuality and mysticism, a fleeting beauty suspended in time. This opening line, lyrical and contemplative, establishes a tension between conventional poetic beauty and the raw, untamed soundscapes that follow.

The next statement—"We are served by machines making satins of sounds."—introduces an industrial, mechanical presence into the poem. McClure contrasts the organic beauty of the rose with the artificiality of human-made machines. Yet, rather than presenting technology as something harsh or intrusive, he describes its output as "satins of sounds," giving it a sensuous, almost luxurious quality. This suggests that while machines can create beauty, they do so in a way that is detached from the raw, breathing, living forces that McClure values. The juxtaposition between nature and machine is central here—humans rely on machines, but machines lack the essential organic breath that makes poetry truly alive.

The following lines—"Each blot of sound is a bud or a stahr."—reinforce this interplay between sound, nature, and the cosmos. A blot of sound—something seemingly random or chaotic—becomes a bud, a sign of organic growth, or a stahr (a star, or possibly a phonetic mutation of star). McClure suggests that every sound, every utterance, is a seed of creation, a celestial or biological force that expands outward. This mirrors the idea in many mystical traditions that the spoken word (or even a primal utterance) is an act of creation, linking sound to the birth of the universe.

As the poem progresses, it dissolves into McClure’s signature beast language: "Gahhhrrr boody eers noze eyes deem thou. NOH. NAH-OHH hrooor. VOOOR-NAH ! GAHROOOOO ME. Nah droooooh seerch. NAH THEE!" These phrases reject conventional syntax, existing as a sonic experience rather than a logically structured statement. The words here operate on multiple levels—they could be phonetic distortions of English, instinctive vocalizations, or even attempts to mimic the sounds of animals (particularly the lions McClure read to). This breakdown of language into pure sound suggests a move toward something more primal, a way of speaking that predates structured human communication.

McClure’s next assertion—"The machines are too dull when we are lion-poems that move & breathe."—offers a direct critique of mechanical life. Machines, no matter how advanced, cannot match the raw, physical presence of a lion-poem—a phrase that encapsulates McClure’s vision of poetry as something living, moving, and full of breath. The lion-poem is a being in itself, powerful and uncontainable, whereas machines remain dull, lifeless in comparison. This aligns with McClure’s belief that poetry should not be static words on a page but an embodied force, an utterance that carries its own energy and presence.

The final lines of the poem—“WHAN WE GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOR hann dree myketoth sharoo sreee thah noh deeeeeemed ez. Whan eeeethoooze hrohh.”—descend fully into beast language, further erasing the divide between human and non-human speech. The elongation of "GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOR" mimics the sound of a growl or roar, reinforcing the idea that poetry should not merely describe experience but enact it. The rest of the passage resists translation, demanding to be felt as a soundscape rather than understood in a traditional linguistic sense. The way these sounds stretch and mutate suggests a shift beyond human speech into a more instinctual, biological rhythm, something that perhaps only animals—or deeply attuned humans—might comprehend.

Overall, "Ghost Tantra: 51" represents McClure’s continued attempt to liberate poetry from human-centered meaning, transforming it into an act of pure experience. The contrast between the rose’s delicate beauty, the artificiality of machines, and the untamed energy of the lion-poem encapsulates his vision of poetry as a wild, living thing that breathes, roars, and resists control. The poem challenges us not to passively interpret it but to listen, vocalize, and feel—to recognize that language, at its most powerful, is not just a tool for communication but a force of transformation, an act of embodied consciousness.

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