he looked into the broken mirror

hardly recognizing himself

salt blisters on his face

his skin was dark and burned 

drinking water reserves were low

he cut down his rations

he drank the blood of a captured sea bird

resisting the temptation to drink seawater

he had very strange dreams

one was about talking fish 

he woke up with a captured fish in his hand

realizing he was hallucinating again

he knew he would die if his mind took over

he would either drink seawater

or swim to an imaginary beach

he had to keep control

he started talking to himself out loud

do not drink seawater 

do not try and swim ashore

he repeated this constantly

he tried to shelter from the sunlight

spending the nights up on deck

he rigged up a torn sail to collect rainwater 

but there was no rain

he lost his journal overboard

he stopped recording the days

his memory became foggy

he had no idea how long he had been drifting

he woke up suddenly with a jolt

the boat lurched to one side

he realized he had run aground

or maybe just hallucinating again