Diving In

This is my first day and I am just trying to post a short message. I know this is all supposed to be intuitively obvious, that is, how to use this editor, but I have already spent at least 15 minutes and still am not sure the best way to even type an entry. Aaargh. I assume this will get easier, like riding a bicycle.

As a writer, poet, editor, and publisher, I'm interested in this whole blogging phenomenon. I was told the best way to explore "the blog world" (not the blah world?) was to get my own blog, so here goes.

I'm not interested in finding my voice, by the way. I already have a voice. That voice says reach out to other poets and artists around the world who are groping toward their own wild and free aesthetic style. I feel constantly oppressed not so much by society at large but by the focus on status and success within the poetry community. I am much more interested in experimentation and cracking jokes than a lot of people who've published four collections of poetry, it seems. I also operate outside of academia and that's where I want to be. I think putting poets inside universities is like putting tigers inside zoos; it does preserve them from extinction but it also incarcerates them and limits their world view.

Why "cantankerous mermaid"? Because I'm a swimmer and I've written a number of poems about mermaids from Ireland, Germany, and China, among other places. Folk tales from around the world contain mermaids, and they aren't cutesy, sweet creatures. They are powerful, magical, dangerous, and full of surprises -- the way a superior poet should be.

I hope to share thoughts about poetry and art in the days ahead. For now, let's see if I can post this damn thing. Diving out for now, Karen

p.s. Visit my author website at www.karenbraucher.com