The 2025 Brilliant Poetry Competition Shortlisted Poems: Muizzah Fatima Munir
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.
Schrödinger’s Attic
by Muizzah Fatima Munir
At this gathering, everyone’s smiling,
quietly reminiscing, mentioning you,
believing you still exist
only in their memories.
The album keeps gathering dust,
left unopened in Schrödinger’s attic.
I feel your presence—until I turn the page.
The half-faded photographs
never quite trapped your light.
My aunt sees you in my mother’s eyes,
your warmth felt in her love.
Everyone describes you with longing.
I wish for dreams where your waveform
might overlap mine.
While eating my mother’s dishes,
the ones you once made with love,
it feels as if I’m enveloped by your warmth.
Just when I think I’ve reached you,
you collapse into air,
a probability—erased.
Your smile lives on, when you yourself don’t.
Muizzah Fatima Munir is a computer science student and poet from Pakistan whose work explores emotion, identity, and the quiet intersections between humanity and technology.
For general questions about IYQ, please contact info@quantum2025.org. For press inquiries, contact iyq2025@hkamarcom.com.