Why?

Are you form curious but closure skeptical?

Do you find the Duplex or a Pantoum exciting but the return to wholeness ever so slightly disappointing?

Recursive Tercets are the form for you.

Form Rules:

3 Tercets, 9-11 Syllables per line
First line of each tercet must include words from the last line of previous tercet, but meaning must degrade/contradict/transform
Final line needs to recycle words from the opening line & oppose the opening line

Example Recursive Tercet

Do you trust me? You shouldn’t, not tonight.

My soul is split. My words spit acidic.

Still, I hear my chest pounding for you.

You heard me pounding your chest of still

photos under my steel heel. Crushing pop

cans. Telling dog eared memories to heel.

Dodging memories, I can’t hear you. To heal

I drink love superfund toxic. She asks,

do you trust me for the night? You should.

First published and formalized on www.jamesekenstedtpoetry.com (2025).