Why "Mermatriarch"?

There is a framed poster here in my bedroom, of John William Waterhouse's painting A Mermaid (1901) that I have loved since the first time I saw it. In fact, it's safe to say that of all the mythological creatures, mermaids are my favorite. I'm not sure what it is that I love about them--perhaps because they are beautiful, and I am not, perhaps because I admire their vanity and capriciousness, the way they sun themselves on the shore and lure men to their deaths--or at least, to broken hearts.

What I love a bout the painting, that features a red-haried mermaid combing her hair, is that her mouth is just slightly open, as if she wants to say something, but she's not looking at the artist, but off to the left. Perhaps she's seen something that's made her gasp, but not startled her enough to take her away from her grooming. I think that I would like to be her. I would like to have the option to swim off to sea, to get away from land and stay wrapped in the ocean for as long as I want. It would be a kind of death-in-life. That appeals to me.

Of course, the word "Mermatriarch" implies (mermaid) motherhood, and I have no children, and certainly not any mermaids, but I liked the idea of the word, the idea that I could be a kind of queen to these creatures that I love so much. Maybe someday I will write a story or a poem about a Mermatriarch.

Not that anyone wants my poems. I got another rejection letter yesterday.