Kapok flower season - Quang Binh Electronic Newspaper

(QBĐT) - When the third lunar month comes, the cotton trees in my hometown's fields begin to "light up" again. When I say "light up" I also learn from my grandmother's words. I remember the day before, when the third lunar month came, my grandmother came back from the rice fields, her heels were covered with smooth mud particles, by the well, she scooped water to wash her feet and whispered: "The cotton trees in the fields have lit up..." At that time, my heart was excited and I knew how to wait for a season of red cotton flowers.

The place where I was born and raised is a mountainous countryside with rice fields stretching as far as the eye can see, so the childhood of poor country kids always revolves around rice fields and grass. And no one is unfamiliar with the silhouettes of the kapok trees standing tall on the main road separating the upper and lower rice fields.

If I remember correctly, there were 5 ancient cotton trees, about three adult arms long enough to hug, and 3 slightly smaller cotton trees scattered along both sides of the path. After long quiet seasons, experiencing drizzle and north wind, long periods of humidity, the cotton flowers bloomed when March came, along with the sunlight spreading a red sky.

The tall kapok tree trunk stretches its skinny arms against the vast sky, its rough bark a silvery brown. I rarely see kapok tree leaves, perhaps they are too high for my eyes, or I don’t pay attention, but with kapok flowers, even if I don’t pay attention, they still entice and proudly enter my sight. Because in the middle of the vast space, who can fail to see the red color like the burning fire of the kapok flowers? My heart flutters, beats fast in a March afternoon with the wind singing with many sweet childhood memories.

We, the children with blond hair and bare heads exposed to the sun, in the afternoons went to herd cows and when we saw the cotton trees blooming, we would hang around to pick the flowers to play with. Childhood in the past was as innocent as the grass and trees, as clear as the shining crystal light. Partly because life was not yet dominated by many technological pastimes, partly because our family was poor, we had to explore and create to play with the familiar things around us.

Red cotton flowers bloom every March. Photo: Internet

The five petals of the silk cotton flower are as smooth as velvet, with a sparkling yellow pistil in the middle, adding to the pride of the flower. The girls pick fresh flowers and string them through rattan or thin bamboo strips to make a wreath to wear around their chests. The naughty boys use the silk cotton flowers as balls to pass back and forth, laughing out loud.

Many people say that the cotton tree flowers have no scent, but I find them to have an alluring scent. That is when I lie face down on the grass, next to a newly fallen cotton tree flower, the flower scent is faint, fragile, gentle like a soft spring breeze. The cotton tree flowers only bloom until the end of March, layer upon layer of flowers fall and end a brilliant season. When the cotton tree has only bare, withered old branches left, it silently gathers heat, eagerly waiting for March of the following year...

When mentioning the kapok tree, I remember the saying “The spirit of the banyan tree, the ghost of the kapok tree”, which the old people in the village often whisper to each other. But I was not afraid, nor were my friends. Whenever I went to the fields, I saw them gathering around the kapok tree to pick flowers to play with. There were afternoons when I would lie down under the kapok tree, face up on the top of the high branches, watching the bright red flowers and the chirping birds. The flowers were bustling with the birds, as if burning up a warm spring, dispelling the lingering cold of the end of the season.

When I was quiet, I realized many interesting things. While many other flowers bloom sporadically throughout a season, or even a long year, then wither, the kapok flower is a flower that is dedicated to the whole month of March. And the flowers that fall, most of them still retain their freshness, not withering like other flowers.

Time flies, we children have become adults but the kapok tree remains the same, quietly burning red flowers every March. Every March, I always want to return to the kapok flower season, to gather all my worries and send them to burn red flowers. Only then will my soul feel light and at peace with life...

Ngoc Linh

Source: https://www.baoquangbinh.vn/van-hoa/202503/mua-hoa-gao-2225093/