I know the kapok tree because I am in Yunnan. In the early 1980s, I went to Yunnan from the Great Central Plains, and there were several tall kapok trees next to the stadium in the camp. Although it belongs to the subtropical zone, I was deeply impressed by the rows of tall kapok trees. There is not a leaf on the whole branch, and it is as bare as a tree in winter in the north, which is really rare in the warm south.

Kapok tree is its scientific name, and its local name is Panzhihua. It's early spring, and the kapok tree hasn't grown new leaves yet. The bare branches are swaying in the wind, and its branches are covered with spiral thorns. When I first saw the kapok tree, compared with other leafy trees around it, it looked a little depressed and a little old. Perhaps because it is different, but also because it is similar to the trees in my hometown, which ignited my beautiful homesickness.

Days always flow away inadvertently. I woke up one morning and looked out of the window. In front of me, a piece of red glow reflected through the horizon. I saw the bare branches of kapok trees full of bright red flowers overnight. Without the rendering of a green leaf, the whole canopy is bright red, like a burning flame, so beautiful kapok.

I have never seen such a red flower. Too brilliant, not a green leaf, not a trace of variegated embellishment. Too pure, like rosy clouds all over the sky, like blood burning. The fiery red of that tree, like a burning torch, added unique aura and charming scenery to the camp, and also brought people a surprise of jumping.

From that moment on, I fell in love with the kapok tree. It is said that safflower needs green leaves, but the kapok tree subverts this fact. First of all, it is not ordinary green leaves that decorate the world, but fiery red flowers. It regards the whole spring, even the whole world, as a stage to show its unique charm, setting off and rendering its passionate beauty, writing its own * * * * at will, and touching me with its persistent fiery red.

As early as in high school, I read Shu Ting's poem "To the Oak Tree", and I still clearly remember the poem: "I must be a kapok beside you, standing with you in the image of a tree. Roots, close to the ground, leaves, lingering in the clouds. Every time a gust of wind passes, we greet each other, but no one understands our words ... "Since then, I have imagined the appearance of kapok, eager to see kapok one day and use it to say our words.

Standing under the kapok tree, I looked up at kapok's tall and straight body. Against the background of burning trees, I feel as if I were drunk. Red is drunk on my face, and I am drunk in the blue sky and white clouds. In that gorgeous sunset, I suddenly saw the perfect dance of Kapok and Xia Guang. They danced like two elves hugging each other. Slowly, my heart joined the dance of Kapok and Xia Guang. Suddenly, I found myself slowly turning into a kapok tree, emitting the energy I had accumulated for a winter, and quietly blooming in this unexpected spring and this colorful season. Open a crimson flower and show your beauty between heaven and earth. You see, the colorful figure swaying with the wind seems to tell people that spring is coming.

While I was meditating, suddenly a kapok fell in front of my eyes. It didn't scatter a petal and completely fell to the ground. Like a heavy sigh after painstaking efforts, it is also like a decisive farewell when I leave my mother when I grow up. It is such a beautiful farewell when I turn around. I stepped on the ground and let my thoughts flutter in the evening breeze. I bent down to pick up a kapok plant and put it in my hand. Its shape is a bit like pomegranate flower in the north, but it is much bigger than pomegranate flower. Kapok petals are thick, and huge flowers are full and juicy. When kapok fell on the ground one after another, the trees were full of fire and became colorful. At this time, I remembered Gong Zizhen's poem: "Falling red is not a heartless thing, but turning into spring mud protects flowers more." Isn't this a true portrayal of the kapok tree?

Under the kapok tree, I saw an old man collecting fresh petals falling from the kapok tree. According to him, flowers can make porridge and soup, and pedicels can make tea to lower blood sugar. It is also said that kapok can be used as medicine from flower to skin to root, and has the effects of clearing away heat and toxic materials, dispelling cold and removing dampness, and relieving pain and healing. I see that every year when kapok blooms, some boys and girls who love beauty will string the picked kapok around their necks or tie it around their waists to continue the beauty of kapok.

In the years I have known Kapok, I have enjoyed the happiness it gives me every year. Perhaps kapok trees are not as graceful as willows, but as rough and straightforward as men; Perhaps kapok is not as fragrant as osmanthus trees, but it is just as enthusiastic; Perhaps kapok is not as fragrant as plum blossom, but it is as persistent and firm; Perhaps the kapok tree is not as broad-minded as the banyan tree, but it is as broad-minded and affectionate.

I know that kapok trees have their own characteristics. The colder it experiences in winter, the more brilliant it blooms in spring. In the blooming season of kapok, although there are no green leaves, it makes kapok more desolate and Leng Yan. In fact, kapok is not as beautiful as green leaves at this time.

Flowers and leaves fall. After the curtain call of fiery red flowers, the trees are covered with green leaves and branches. What a strange tree! Trees full of flowers light up people's cold hearts, and the shade of green leaves brings coolness to people. Kapok is backward and will grow oval capsules. When it matures, it will spit out cotton wool similar to cotton, which can be used to fill the mattress to drive away the cold and keep warm. When Su Dongpo, a poet of the Song Dynasty, was exiled to Hainan, the local Li people made kapok cotton-padded clothes for him. Su Dongpo wrote a poem to thank him for this: "I left my clothes on seashells, and the sea breeze made the evening cold."

Every May, the kapok trees in this city far away from home still bloom and fall, and the cotton wool of kapok will fall with the wind, fall under the tree and fly to the street.

Now, I sleep with a pillow made of kapok on my head every night, feeling the warmth and gentleness of kapok and recalling the past, so that I no longer feel lonely and lonely. Every time I dream, I will see several kapok trees standing quietly in a corner of the camp. In warm and sunny subtropical days, smiling flowers are more delicate and gorgeous.

Things have changed. In those years when I left Pu 'er, what I can't forget is the simple and stalwart body of the kapok tree, pointing directly at the blue sky, giving people a glimpse of meaning and aftertaste. Also doomed this life I and it in the distance, that kind of hard to give up the wordless ending. I want to fold a kapok and put it in the vase on the case, so that the fiery red flowers can be planted in an elegant dream. That night, I really had a dream. In the distant Pu 'er city, under the blue sky and white clouds, the kapok trees were still blooming brilliantly.

I like kapok trees, and I prefer kapok. I love its nature, beauty and splendor.