machines of loving grace?

In his poem, “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace,” Richard Brautigan’s tone is very cynical. He makes it sound as though he wants animals and computers to coexist in the same environment. The author wants humans to live harmoniously with all mammals. Yet his sarcastic tone suggests otherwise. In the first stanza, the author mentions “mammals and computers live together in mutually programming harmony like pure water touching clear sky.” But the sky doesn’t technically touch water, since the earth is round. When reading the poem, one might believe that Brautigan thinks that everything he wrote is completely ridiculous. The way the author wrote the poem leads people to believe that he thinks nature and technology will never become one.

The title, “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace,” suggests that the author of the poem believes that everything should exist peacefully under the watch of extremely advanced technology. Brautigan suggests that living things and technology should be able to live together peacefully on more than once occasion, for example, “mammals and computers” or “pines and electronics.” He also says we should be “joined back to nature.” Brautigan compares flowers to computers and thinks everything should blend in together.

At first I thought that the author was most definitely pro-technology, but as I reread the poem a few more times I thought otherwise. As each stanza goes on, each idea of Brautigan becomes more extreme. He begins each stanza with “I like to think...” and then a phrase in parentheses. The first one seems to be wishful, as though it should happen in the future. The second stanza’s “thought” is more demanding than the first. The third stanza “it has to be!” makes me feel as though the author is being sarcastic.