The Potential Father is a light poetic form concerning family, originating in The Focal Systems. The rules of the form are applied by poets to produce individual poems which can be recited. The poem is a single tercet. Use of consonance and epenthesis is characteristic of the form. The third line of the tercet is required to maintain the phrasing of the second line. The third line of the tercet has the same grammatical structure as the first line. The third line of the tercet reverses the grammatical structure of the first line. The third line of the tercet presents a different view of the subject of the second line. The third line of the tercet must expand the idea of the first line. The first line is intended to make an assertion. It must make use of assonance. It has five syllables. The second line is intended to make a counter-assertion. It must make use of assonance. It has five syllables. The third line is intended to synthesize previous ideas. It must make use of assonance. It has nine syllables. The rhyme scheme of the poem is AAB.