The 2025 Brilliant Poetry Competition Shortlisted Poems: Luisa A. Igloria

Brilliant Poetry is an international competition that invites participants from around the world every year to explore scientific discoveries and curiosity through poetic expression.  

Aligned with the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ), marking a century since the formulation of quantum mechanics, Brilliant Poetry aims this year to highlight the power of artistic expression, making the complexities of science accessible, beautiful, and profoundly inspiring.

During the call for participants, poets were encouraged to engage with the principles and paradoxes of quantum science, exploring their intellectual and human significance. 

After closing the submissions on July 30, the jury started the selection process. In September, ten outstanding poems were selected for a shortlist that was announced early this month.  

We are thrilled to publish each of them on the official blog of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. Winners of the first, second, and third places will be announced on November 10.

An End to Time

by Luisa A. Igloria

I like putting one foot in front of the other,
walking at a steady pace until I change

the speed on the treadmill or come to
the end of the half-hour. I like wiping down

the silver and putting them back in their
drawers, but not ironing out the creases

in a shirt. The child asks, is there
an end of time? It’s the kind of question

that can’t be answered. If we knew, the world
would be a different place entirely. If we knew,

all measures would be undone. Animals
would never come out of the sealed caves

of their hibernation. The last however many
years of heartache would dissolve like a golden

cube of honey in a glass of tea. The old queen
would leave the hive whenever she wanted to

without being followed by a swarm, without
having to scout for a new home to populate

with food and bodies; without the new queens
killing each other in order to be the only one.

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Poet, nonfiction writer, and translator Luisa A. Igloria teaches in the MFA Creative Writing Program at Old Dominion University. She is originally from Baguio City in the Philippines. www.luisaigloria.com