The 2025 Brilliant Poetry Competition Shortlisted Poems: Thom Hawkins

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.

Dualism

by Thom Hawkins

I could hear the cat moving around in the box,
but I was determined to ignore it. My feline
friend was in a state of quantum superposition—
it had to be, if I'd done everything right. 

The radiation source, the Geiger counter,
the vial of poison, a half-life had passed
so there was no way to know if the meows
were from a cat’s body or its ghost.

Thom Hawkins is a writer and artist based in Maryland. His poems have appeared or are scheduled to appear in COMP, Excuse Me Magazine, The Fieldstone Review, Last Stanza Journal, Linked Verse, Poetry Box, Red Ogre Review, Sinking City, and Uncensored Ink’s Banned Books Anthology.