he was holding the fishing line

as the shark took off

the line sliced into his hand 

blood dripped into the water

he was angry with himself

as he bandaged the wound

more sharks circled the boat

they had tasted his blood and wanted more

best to stop fishing while sharks were around

he had to go hungry

until the sharks gave up

they kept circling the boat

he started to doubt if he would be rescued

he was far away from land

no shipping lanes nearby

the boat was becalmed

he briefly considered ending it right there

surrender to the sharks

instead of a long lingering death

but his will to survive was strong

after three days the sharks gave up

or were they just hiding he thought

he soon caught a fish 

brought it in without a shark interception

he was weak from lack of food

it took a few days to recover

then he spotted land

frantically paddling towards it

after a few hours he was totally exhausted

his injured hand was bleeding again

there was no land at all

he concluded that he was now hallucinating