Streaming instability is a privileged channel to bridge the gap between collisional growth of dust grains and planetesimal formation triggered by gravity. This instability is thought to develop through its secular mode, which is long-time growing and may not develop easily in real discs. We address this point by revisiting its perturbation analysis. A third-order expansion with respect to the Stokes number reveals important features overlooked so far. The secular mode can be stable. Epicycles can be unstable, more resistant to viscosity, and are identified by Green's function analysis as promising channels for planetesimals formation.