First Place: Boat Nights by Juli Simon

Boat nights, we tap the dock with hurried steps and leave our cove

while the sun melts the falling clouds over water.

There is a perfect time on a perfect shore, just through the canal, and one

burst of speed away. We cut the engine and listen to the pontoons knock

on the stilling water.

The cypress trees come together in one silhouette, and white birds gather,

softening as they rest, to a watercolor-quiet gray.

We stay until the details sleep and only shapes stay awake a little while longer.