First Place: Great Egret by Terry Godbey

Incandescent fragment of star,

prayerful neck, two colossal fans

of sugar-white plumes spread wide,

the egret steals the sky

with an elegance not of this earth,

glides toward the speckled edge

of the marsh, a ballerina touching down

on the tips of its pitch-dark toes.

Terry's Bio

Terry Godbey’s four prize-wining poetry collections are “Hold Still,” “Beauty Lessons,” “Flame” and “Behind Every Door.” A winner of the Rita Dove Poetry Award, she has published more than 150 poems in literary magazines. A freelance writer and editor, she wanders in woods and wetlands with her camera every chance she gets.