Sometimes we forget that writing is human. Our authors' comments remind us that it is.
By Kelly Farley
Because Polyphony is based on nameless, faceless communications via Submissions Manager, it’s all too easy to forget that there is a real person behind that wall of bolded text. Voices is intended to lend humanity to the editing process, but that doesn’t mean we can’t lend humanity to the authors too. Writing is human. Period.
Below are some of the most notable comments we have received in our “additional notes” section on the submissions page. They range from hopeful to earnest to audacious to cathartic -- all delightfully, vulnerably human. We’ll let the authors speak for themselves.
This poem is the culmination of years of pent up anger, finally managing to scrape the surface of forgiveness.
This is a story about me discovering my first and forever love.
Prose poem, everyone. Don't freak out.
If the ending sounds incomplete, it's supposed to be. That's part of the character of the poem.
This piece of fiction has no meaning. There is no right or wrong interpretation. It is just how it is.
I meant every word I say. Trust me.
I simply wrote what I felt.
I am an aspiring writer who lives in a country where hope and faith is our weapons to live our lives.
This story was birthed from the deepest trenches on my mind. I hope everybody takes a liking in it, even if just a little. Thank you.
this is one of my only recent poems that rhymes, and i quite like it. i hope you do too.
Hi! I don't really have any other comments than to say thank you in advance for reading this. I hope you enjoy, and that it invokes emotions from you. That's the goal of all poetry, isn't it? Anyway, thank you again. :)
My dad put me through a lot, someday, I will prove to him that I am not worthless.
I've been admiring Polyphony HS from a distance and trying to get up the courage to submit.
This piece is fictional, but largely based on my own personal frustrations. So yep. It's my first attempt at submitting anything to anywhere, and I plan to continue and get better with it.
I tried. Everybody tried as hard as they could. :)
This poem started off as a joke when I was tasked with writing a poem for my creative writing class. I had a bad case of writers block and typed anything and everything that came to my mind. I turned it in thinking my teacher would get a kick out of it and make me write another poem, but he surprisingly latched onto it! His support for my random poem helped me see that poetry could be anything I wanted it to be, and now poetry is one of my favorite things to write!
I've never submitted my writing to anything before, and I'm aware this story isn't much. I am hoping to hear some well-thought-out criticism that will help me improve as a writer.
I was meant to deliver a speech at my sister's high school graduation, but after hearing all of the other speeches I became overcome with insecurity over my own work. I wrote this mock graduation speech as a personal reflection of my failure to commit due to my fear of not being good enough, but also to declare that with each failure there is a greater opportunity for success.
i was forced to submit this. :)
Waking up every morning is a gift!
THIS IS AN INTERESTING STORY FOR EVERYBODY TO READ
I seriously wrote this at like 1 in the morning.
For any curious readers, I do wear boxers but I will leave the pattern up to you. haha have a good day. If there's a comments box I might as well use it to say something nice
When editing, we don’t know the person behind the piece. We don’t know if they’re somebody who’s been forced to submit by a teacher, somebody writing about their first and forever love, or someone trying to prove their worth to the world. Keep in mind these comments when writing your own.