This poem repurposes text from the first page of the publicly-distributed, print version of the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s constitution.
This booklet is not
the Basic Law.
This booklet contains
the Basic Law but is not
the Law itself.
The container has
no legal status,
and should not be
relied on.
Refer to the Government
for the official version.
What, then, is contained here?
An instrument
a state
a con
a form
a leaf
a boot
some men
a foot
more men and women
Are we contained?
Are we these leaves,
the foot in this boot?
How does it fit?
Can this be
our boot, our instrument?
Can we edit it?
