The Cascade form is a modern style that repeats each line of the first tercet or quatrain in subsequent stanzas. It offers a sort of reflective, cyclical veil over the text like most forms with repeating lines (hence, cascading). It doesn’t require any rhyme or meter, but I still like to incorporate rhyme to make it a bit more challenging. I decided to go with four tercets, but you could also try with five quatrains. My tercet version follows ABC | abA | cdB | efC.

I wanted to hum you a sweet serenade.
I sensed you needed calmness that moment.
Maybe you can meet me in the song.

It’s so like you to put up a barricade,
but I can’t offer something more potent –
I wanted to hum you a sweet serenade.

Your agitation may not last too long,
but I need to end it, and end it now.
I sensed you needed calmness that moment.

For all the moments we get together,
let’s spend them in beauty, peace, and love.
Maybe you can meet me in the song…