Otis and Other Issues

figmentofimagination Productions
figmentofimagination Productions

presents

Otis and Other Issues

Featuring the works of:

David Donald Schein II

Lee Paul Cole

And

Katie Robertson

With contributions by:

A. Myers

Melissa Elsner

And

Regina Rose LaMacchia

Edited by DAVID DONALD SCHEIN II

© figmentofimagination Productions 1998-2000 All Rights Reserved

Version: 33-----Most Recent Update 3 March 2000

AU LITEUR

Welcome to the first presentation of figmentofimagination Productions. With this book, we are beginning what we hope to be a great legacy in independent art. fP will eventually expand to produce every imaginable form of visual, performing, and literary art. We hope to provide a means for budding independent artists to be seen and heard, with the least amount of creative restriction. Never will we tell an artist what to create. We simply will allow that artist the ways and means to show the world what they can do.

This book, Otis and Other Issues, features several young authors who write in the open form, also known as “Naked Poetry”, to coin the term from Stephen Berg. The open form is often considered the most accepting of the artist’s choices. The artists are not restricted to rhythm, rhyme, and meter. Instead, the artists are free to let their minds lead and their pens follow.

Initially is our founder, David Schein II with The Otis Series and Other Issues. The Otis Series tells the story of Otis, a man who is searching for something in himself and the world, but he knows not quite what. Often, he thinks he has found it in a lover, and often he is wrong. He tells his tale from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person points of view, sometimes allowing us to look through his eyes, at other times, restricting us to watching from a distance. Included in The Otis Series are poems by A. Myers and Melissa Elsner. Other Issues is a collection of other poems that have no real common thread. They are simply the scattered thoughts of an artist. These “other issues” range from dark philosophy to flights of fancy. Included in Other Issues is another poem by Melissa Elsner and a contribution by the youngest of our authors, Gina LaMacchia.

Second, Lee Cole brings us The Theatis Set. This is a short set that tells a few stories of love, friendship, and the whips and scorns of time. Included after the Theatis Set are two other poems, one about love and the other about a sort of parenthood. His ancient names give his poems an historic feel, and his references to mythos and mysticism add to the ethereal feel of his words.

Katie Robertson brings this anthology to a close with The Way of the World and a few other pieces about loneliness and solitude, among other things. Her use of imagery and emotion give her work a close-to-home effect as she writes of things that many of us can relate to all too well.

fP

The Otis Series 8

Otis and Roxy pt. 1.......................................................................................................... 10

Otis and Roxy pt. 2......................................................................................................... 10

Otis and Roxy pt. 3.......................................................................................................... 10

Otis and Michelle........................................................................................................... 11

Otis and Jezebel, pt. 1...................................................................................................... 11

Otis and Myra................................................................................................................ 11

Otis and Anneke............................................................................................................ 12

Otis and Maryanne (and Myra)....................................................................................... 12

Otis and Himself............................................................................................................ 12

Otis and The Strangers (and Myra)................................................................................... 13

Otis and the Sunset........................................................................................................ 13

Otis and Music (To the tune of Beethoven's Ode to Joy)........................................................ 14

Otis and Renee............................................................................................................... 14

Otis and Anger............................................................................................................... 14

Otis and Sweet Things..................................................................................................... 15

Otis and thoughts of Myra................................................................................................ 15

Otis and Pain................................................................................................................ 15

Otis and The Prison......................................................................................................... 16

Myra and Otis (words by A. Myers).................................................................................... 16

Otis and Roxy pt. 4......................................................................................................... 17

Otis and Roxy pt. 5, also Closure pt. 1................................................................................. 17

Otis the Voyeur and Myra................................................................................................ 18

Otis and the Last Night with Myra................................................................................... 18

Otis and a Date (maybe) with Karen................................................................................ 19

Otis and a Farewell to Myra, also Closure pt. 2................................................................... 19

Otis and a Date with Karen............................................................................................ 20

Otis and Menolly........................................................................................................... 20

Otis and Thoughts about A Possible Err with Karen............................................................. 21

Otis and Karen, pt. 1...................................................................................................... 21

Otis and Karen pt. 2...................................................................................................... 21

Otis and Karen pt. 3...................................................................................................... 22

Otis and Karen pt.4...................................................................................................... 22

Otis and Karen pt. 5...................................................................................................... 23

Otis and a Card Game at Karen's Home with Her Family..................................................... 23

Otis and a Really Depressed Moment after a Misunderstanding with Karen........................... 24

Otis and Hoffman.......................................................................................................... 24

Otis and Karen's Room, also Closure pt. 3A......................................................................... 25

Otis and Karen No More, also Closure pt. 3B....................................................................... 25

Otis and Eight Weeks, also Three Days After, also Closure pt. 3C........................................... 25

Otis and Caroline, also The Lady at the Hair Place That Heard About My Poetry and Told Me to Write a Poem About Her, and When I Told Her That I Couldn't Because I Didn't Know Her, She Told Me to Anyway, So I Did, and Here It Is......................... 26

Otis and Karen Once Again............................................................................................. 26

Otis and Thoughts about Karen During a Family Gathering................................................ 26

Otis, Myra, Karen, and Bernice, Veronica, Andy, and Marcus.............................................. 27

Otis and Karen, pt. 6, also Cryptic Answers to Unasked Questions........................................ 28

Otis and Karen, pt. 7, also Fear and Pain in Houston.......................................................... 29

Otis and Karen, pt. 8A.................................................................................................... 30

Otis and Music, pt. 2...................................................................................................... 30

Otis and Elizabeth......................................................................................................... 30

Otis and Henry.............................................................................................................. 31

Otis and Karen, pt. 9...................................................................................................... 31

Otis and Cristienne, pt. 1................................................................................................ 32

Otis and Cristienne, pt. 2............................................................................................... 32

Otis and Jezebel, pt. 2.................................................................................................... 33

Otis and Erix................................................................................................................. 33

Veronica's Thoughts (by M. Elsner).................................................................................. 33

Otis and the Evening..................................................................................................... 34

Otis and a New Year and more thoughts of Karen................................................................ 34

Otis and Karen, Pt. 10..................................................................................................... 35

Otis and Karen, Pt. 11..................................................................................................... 38

Otis and Time, also 14-1-99............................................................................................... 39

Otis and Karen, pt. 12, also Consistent Train of Thought..................................................... 40

Otis and Karen, pt. 13, also Rearview Mirror....................................................................... 41

Otis and Jezebel, pt 4, also Closure, pt 4............................................................................ 41

Otis and Roxy, pt 6........................................................................................................ 42

Otis and Nepher, pt. 2.................................................................................................... 42

Otis and Veronica, pt 1.................................................................................................... 43

Otis and Marcus, also Otis and More Thoughts of Myra......................................................... 44

Otis and Victoria, pt.2................................................................................................... 44

Otis and Victoria, pt.3................................................................................................... 44

Otis and Victoria, pt.4................................................................................................... 45

Otis and Reilly, pt. 1...................................................................................................... 45

Otis and Reilly, pt. 2 also, A Blue Dream.......................................................................... 46

Otis and Reilly, pt. 3, also Castle on a Cloud, also Pas Miserables.......................................... 46

Otis and Veronica, pt. 2 also White Mice and 50 kV of Electricity........................................ 46

Otis and Reilly, pt. 4a................................................................................................... 47

Otis and Reilly, pt. 4b.................................................................................................... 47

Otis and Reilly, pt. 5..................................................................................................... 48

Otis and Reilly, pt. 6a.................................................................................................... 49

Otis and Reilly, pt. 6b.................................................................................................... 49

Otis and Reilly, pt. 7...................................................................................................... 49

Otis and Roxy, pt. 7........................................................................................................ 50

Otis and Reilly, pt. 9...................................................................................................... 50

Otis and Neve................................................................................................................ 50

Otis and Reilly, pt. 10..................................................................................................... 51

Otis and Reilly, pt 11....................................................................................................... 51

Otis and Veronica, pt. 3.................................................................................................. 52

Otis and Reilly, pt 12..................................................................................................... 54

Other Issues 55

My Pub Song................................................................................................................. 55

What Fools We Mortals Be.............................................................................................. 55

Haight-Apathy............................................................................................................. 56

Who is the Lady in Stairway to Heaven? And other Q-and A.............................................. 56

Zephaniah pt. 1............................................................................................................. 57

Anonymous, a song......................................................................................................... 57

December 14 (by M. Elsner)............................................................................................. 57

The Diner, pt.1.............................................................................................................. 58

Recovery, A Poem in Many Parts--.................................................................................. 58

Active...................................................................................................................................................... 58

Newcomer................................................................................................................................................. 59

Complacency, Pt. 1.................................................................................................................................... 59

Relapse..................................................................................................................................................... 59

The Morning After.................................................................................................................................... 60

Return..................................................................................................................................................... 60

Coming Clean........................................................................................................................................... 60

Complacency, Pt. 2................................................................................................................................... 60

Withdrawal and Progress........................................................................................................................... 61

Perpetual Motion of Synapses and Memory......................................................................... 61

TW:CoaHTR................................................................................................................. 62

Perchance to Dream...................................................................................................... 62

Prelude to Evermore....................................................................................................... 64

Ill............................................................................................................................... 64

Ideal........................................................................................................................... 64

Determination............................................................................................................. 64

29............................................................................................................................... 65

Reality Bites................................................................................................................ 65

With all Geographic Changes, a Psychological Change must also Occur.................................. 65

The Diner, pt 2............................................................................................................. 66

Smoke Signals, Reflections on the Movie........................................................................... 66

Observations over Breakfast............................................................................................. 67

Alkaline Trio............................................................................................................... 68

Winter Weeps............................................................................................................... 68

People’s Paths (by Regina Rose LaMacchia)...................................................................... 69

Lee Paul Cole 70

The Theatis Set............................................................................................................. 70

Theatis and Elissa..................................................................................................................................... 70

Theatis and Elissa, Day 2.......................................................................................................................... 70

Theatis and Darious................................................................................................................................... 71

Theatis and Elissa, Day 3, also A New Beginning........................................................................................ 71

Theatis and the Tracks.............................................................................................................................. 71

Fire............................................................................................................................ 72

Unlife......................................................................................................................... 73

Katie Robertson 75

The Way of the World.................................................................................................... 75

The Brick Wall........................................................................................................................................ 75

The Treatment.......................................................................................................................................... 75

Box. Circle. Which are You?...................................................................................................................... 75

Happiness is a Dollar Bill............................................................................................... 76

Shine Alone, by Luv, or Ode to the Insomniac..................................................................... 76

Untitled...................................................................................................................... 77

Letting go.................................................................................................................... 78

Bubbles........................................................................................................................ 78

Birth........................................................................................................................... 79

Mantis......................................................................................................................... 79

Modern Society.............................................................................................................. 79

Remember..................................................................................................................... 80

Lone Spirit................................................................................................................... 81

The fine print: 83