I
Along the railway, between the train stations of Pandacan and Paco were tents perched not far from the rail tracks. These homes were patched using snatched tarpaulins and old cardboard boxes salvaged from the side of the road.
When I saw them from inside the passing train, they seemed smaller than a German Shepherd's dog cage. A closer look however might reveal a roomier floor space than the junk pickers' wooden cart turned into sleeping quarters.
As the tents disappear from my sight, thoughts float in the air. I wonder how many souls these homes shelter at night?
II.
Still along the rail tracks near San Andres was a waterway narrower than a two-person street alley. Along its banks were wild grasses taller than an average man. There were shrubs too and small trees not seen in that part of the city. They are thriving.
They have altered the once-dead landscape.
Has the Kapamilya network's Bantay Ilog really succeeded in bringing the creek back to life, or I was being toyed by my audacious visions?