The Raft - Rick Wakeman

Having made a raft from wood taken from the giant mushroom forest

With rigging consisting of a mast made of two staves lashed

Together, a yard made of a third, and a sail borrowed from their

Stock of rugs, they set sail from the harbour — Port Grauben

Named after Axel’s fiancee.

With a north-westerly wind propelling

Them along at about three miles an hour, silvery beams of light

Reflected here and there by drops of spray, produced luminous

Points in the eddy created by the raft

Soon all land was lost to view

Five days out to sea, they witnessed a terrifying battle

Between two sea monsters.

One having the snout of a porpoise, the

Head of a lizard, and teeth of a crocodile — an Ichthyosaurus

And the other, the mortal enemy of the first, a serpent with a

Turtle’s shell, the Plesiosaurus