Jonathan Taylor is 54 years old and incarcerated in Massachusetts, USA

MY STORY

In a crowded sea of faces and words, this is something a little different.  While others use this platform for personal introductions, I am here to tell a story, and as a prisoner with no direct access to the Internet, this site provides me with that opportunity.  I’m actually telling just a small fragment of the story, but sometimes the smallest fragments can have the greatest impact and provide the most revealing pieces to a puzzle.

My story is unusual, which can raise walls of doubt in people’s minds, surrounding it in speculation.  Within those walls, the story’s confusing subject matter creates a twisted labyrinth, through which some may find the tale hard to follow.  These things have made it difficult to translate my story into words, and even more difficult to relate through an abstraction, but I think that those who follow it to the end will ultimately find it interesting when they’ve emerged on the other side.

For some there will be no doubt or speculation.  Their familiarity with the backdrop of this story will allow the pieces to fall easily into place.  They are the viewers and players who have watched it all unravel before their eyes.  Maintaining a harsh silence and feigning a clumsy ignorance have made them crucial accessories to the crime.  By pulling on the puppet strings like playful children, these thoughtless collaborators fell to their knees and kissed the feet of a man they have never met or seen, becoming his dutiful servants and fiendish accomplices, oblivious to the sticky strings that pulled on their own heads and hands.

My story, which is titled ‘Strewn along a Highway’, can be found by clicking onto the poetry (poems) tab of this ad, and I hope that whoever reads this, whether they’re familiar with the backstory or hearing  it all for the first time, will pause for a moment and listen to what I have to say.  If you do venture down this rabbit hole, the trip requires an open mind so anyone who is packing tunnel vision should probably check it at the door, or else they’ll never make it past the first paragraph.

For those who make the journey and follow the spiral to the end, I am grateful for your time and effort.  This is a story that needs to be told and if reaching its conclusion leaves you hanging with questions and conjecture, then I will do my best to provide the answers and explanations that you seek by having a dialogue about my story with whoever is interested in exploring it further.