The 2025 Brilliant Poetry Competition Shortlisted Poems: Akis Linardos

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.

Dice Rolling Eternal

by Akis Linardos

In the eternal void
      there comes a brilliant bang

Quieter than a baby’s snore
     louder than the end of sound

Quantum fluctuations, a primordial Jackson Pollock
     spit colors on a black, expanding canvas
Carving celestial castles
    from sands of eternal chance

As has been, as will be done,
    before, after, forever

Fireworks spark rivers in the desert
Carbon to branching forms, life from strands

In a pocket eternity, there come soft rains
Youth hungry to experience existence
Elderly aching to pass the torch
Radiant unions, harsh goodbyes

The cosmic candles dim at last,
As entropy reaches its zenith,
    returning everything to slumber

Until the dice may roll again

Akis is a writer of bizarre things, a biomedical AI scientist, and maybe human. He’s also a Greek that traveled the world and now resides in the USA, writing silly dark things while everything burns. Find his words at Apex, Strange Horizons, Uncharted, Heartlines Spec, and visit his lair for more: akislinardos.com