Richard Brautigan – All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace

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I like to think (and
the sooner the better!)
of a cybernetic meadow
where mammals and computers
live together in mutually
programming harmony
like pure water
touching clear sky.

I like to think
(right now, please!)
of a cybernetic forest
filled with pines and electronics
where deer stroll peacefully
past computers
as if they were flowers
with spinning blossoms.

I like to think
(it has to be!)
of a cybernetic ecology
where we are free of our labors
and joined back to nature,
returned to our mammal
brothers and sisters,
and all watched over
by machines of loving grace.
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About All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace

Richard Brautigan (1935-1984) was an American poet and novelist, primarily associated with the counterculture in San Francisco in the 1960s. His style was absurdist, satirical, and surreal. Among the novels he wrote are Trout Fishing In America, The Abortion, and Dreaming Of Babylon. His poetry was collected in such volumes as Rommel Drives On Deep Into Egypt, The Pill Versus The Springhill Mine Disaster, and All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace.

The title poem of that collection, published in 1967 is the one on your left; in envisions a world where nature and technology have merged, creating a “cybernetic ecology.” Back then, when he wrote it, the poem must have read as a fantasy. Now, Brautigan looks prophetic.

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