by Douglas Lanzo
Copyright 2022

First published in Academy of the Heart and Mind (June 8, 2022)

With seasoned guide on board
as salty as the sea,
we took his fishing charter
to a channel off the Key
surrounded by mangroves
in isles to our lee.

My son and I took poles
baited with lure and fish
and cast them into waters
primed and ready for a dish,
to be brought to marina
and grilled or fried per our wish.

Pan-fried visions lit our eyes
as we plied the open seas,
my line oft stripped of bait
by fish with playful tease,
until Alex reeled one in –
landing leatherback with ease.

Peppering the channel,
our guide tossed fresh-killed bait,
telling us our big catch
could arrive without a wait
if we cast our lines toward them
and pulled back with all our weight.

Obliging the Captain,
I cast in minnows’ wake
soon feeling a strong pull
thinking this, my big break;
I reeled in, then gave it line,
by the book without mistake.

Suddenly my guide did shout,
“Reel in faster! There’s a shark!”
So I reeled with all my might
quite alarmed by his remark,
but more by the brown shadow
now emerging from the dark.

Without warning a huge shape
leapt straight up into the air,
flashing rows of steely teeth
with raw, terrifying flair,
both eyes bulging from my head
I pulled as hard as I dared.

Dripping blood into our boat
the grouper swung within
having escaped from shark’s jaws
by a margin razor-thin
that had sheared it in half
ripping off its tailfin.

“That was a bull shark 10 feet long!”
cried the Captain, still in shock.
“The closest I have been
to shark jaws that did lock
besides my modest boat,
whose waves it did rock!”

And so we lived to tell
this fish tale that is true,
of a bull shark breaching
the ocean waters blue,
mere feet from each member
of our dumbfounded crew.