Rule

What kind of word is rule?
What kind of word is it
when it's not pluralized,
not the subject
of guardianship,
merely left on its own?

I think it begins to sound
differently.

Not Rule of Law,
not Follow the Rules
not a mighty Ruler.

By itself.

What do you say about it then?
It becomes more abstract,
doesn't it, something you
have to think about,
and for all its
connotations.

What does it end up meaning?
How do you begin to see
where it starts?
And what does that do
for all its other meanings?

Rule is rule is The Rule,
a rule. Like any other word,
the more you concentrate on it,
the weirder, less familiar,
more foreign,
it looks.

Go ahead and give it a try.