Willows are green, flowers are red

\"The willow is green...the flower is red\" It is said to have originated from a poem written by a Chinese monk during the Northern Song Dynasty in the 1st century. Also known as ``Ryuryoku Kako\'\'. A green willow looks green and a red flower looks red, a metaphor that suggests that things are as they are in nature. Each thing has its own natural principles. In Zen Buddhism, it is said to express the state of mind of enlightenment.