Poem: "The Magical Land of Colored Wagons"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This is the second freebie for the December 1, 2020 Poetry Fishbowl thanks to new prompter hangingbyastitch. It was inspired by a prompt from siliconshaman. It also fills the "pretty paper" square in my 12-1-20 card for the Winter Fest bingo. This poem belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics.


"The Magical Land of Colored Wagons"

[Sunday, February 22, 2015]

Maaka loved festivals.

She popped up the awning
on her housetruck to see if
anyone wanted their fortune told.

Mostly, they just wanted
someone to listen.

She could do that too.

If supervillains dropped by
to stir up trouble, she just
reached into belt pouches,
waved her magic hat, and
made the problem go away.

Maaka almost never lost
a haka mana because
her opponents never knew
what she might throw at them.

Once it had been a live, angry moa.

She's still not sure how that had
happened, but it had saved the day, so
she sure wasn't complaining about it.

At the end of each festival, Maaka
climbed back into her housetruck
and set out on the road again.

It was good as gold, and
she had built it herself.

It had a little kitchenette and
a dining table with two chairs,
a writing desk, and a tiny bathroom.

Over the cab, a queen bed made
a cozy place to sleep with her cat.

In places, the walls were lined with
pretty paper over the plywood.

It was a great home, and
Maaka never loved it as much
as when she shut the door
and stepped on the gas.

That was New Zealand, all right --
the magical land of colored wagons.

* * *

Notes:

Maaka (Hahana Williams) -- She has fair skin, brown eyes, and long blonde hair. Her heritage is primarily Britannian with a little Maori. Maaka lives in a housetruck in New Zealand, which she converted herself. She travels as an entertainer and a superhera. She enjoys the freedom of the open road and hates being tied down to any one person or place. Maaka also writes poetry and articles about her travels, along with mystic fiction, which she sells to various magazines.
Origin: While studying New Zealand flora said to be magical, she developed superpowers.
Uniform: She dresses in lacy, romantic women's wear but cut so she can move freely. Her top hat and corset of pouches contain many material components and small zetetic items.
Qualities: Good (+2) Cheerful, Good (+2) Entertainer, Good (+2) Handycrafts, Good (+2) Naturalistic Intelligence, Good (+2) Traveler
Poor (-2) Sticking Around for the Long Haul
Powers: Good (+2) Magician
She can produce a wide range of magical effects using material components from New Zealand, along with small zetetic items.
Motivation: Freedom.

* * *

"Tiny houses will never go out of style, as they come in so many shapes and sized that they will always capture the viewer’s attention. These beautiful houses on wheels are all based in New Zealand and it seems to be the magical land of colorful wagons. Tiny house trucks are not an expensive investment, as you can purchase an older but functional truck and upcycle it yourself."
-- New Zealand Housetrucks

See some examples of New Zealand housetrucks.

Maaka's housetruck has a mystical theme. The interior includes a desk, a bathroom, storage space, and a bed,


Haka mana is described in "Whakaeke."

Good as gold – "Everything is good as gold."
Means everything is great, sweet, perfect or going great. One of the classic New Zealand slang words!

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Never heard of that show.

Presumably it got transmitted somewhere else (other media, a fan, written in a fanfic) and I picked it up from there.

[siliconshaman]

Probably lateral transmission, yes.

[(Anonymous)]

According to Google, "we're golden"/"you're golden" etc is currently accepted as an American English phrase, but I couldn't find a definitive origin for the phrase. (For that matter, I don't know when people started using it, or which country the phrase originated in.)