Poetry of Impact is an invitation to impact-inspired investors, founders, authors and artists to figuratively strip off the suit and tie and change into our jeans — to explore eternal topics often considered irrelevant or off-limits in “money” conversations: essence, loss, love, nature, and embodiment, just to name a few. Here are three poems from the collection by Gino Borges. You can download the book, check out the podcast and learn more here.
grammar of impact
the impact sphere has evolved quickly
a practice more in-demand and more diverse than ever
for people demanding a brighter, regenerative future
as a community of diverse
impact-oriented investors, founders, social entrepreneurs
we have countless entry points
to understand what impact means today
grammar is the systematic language of the industry
metrics
technicalities
lingo
aligned standards that flow from intent
to contribution to outcome
predetermined rules that most can follow
designed to be learned
repeated
taught
monetised
commercialised
conferenced
jobbed
grammar offers us transparency
a mirror glimpse of our intent in the world
we learn to stand before we walk
to walk before we skip
grammar the stability of stride
poetry the beginning of dance
where grammar ends
through the grammar of impact
we categorise
identify
measure
issues that affect people and planet
grammar lends a navigation map through global hardships
directions to a final destination
graciously laid-out routes
helpful indications of the quickest ways
but grammar omits
will we walk, ride or fly
what attractions may lure us along the way
will we be exuberant or tired
will the impact work be balm to the spirit
grammar aids in steering, directing capital toward
optimism
hope
selflessness
yet when we acknowledge its narrowing effect
we set the sail for poetry’s tailwind
toward a multidimensional impact existence
the poetry of impact
an evolving language, always unfinished
as the character of deep impact takes shape
through our collected impact patterns
and personal alchemy
just as an architect needs a space to imagine a building
or a farmer needs a bed of soil to grow her crops
these impact patterns need space to ground
to become alive
to be felt
impact patterns find their value
when they overlay onto grammar
illuminating grammar, enacting luminosity
deep impact done well
compresses impact poles
a circle folding
each one unto the other
compression of impact moments
becomes extraordinary imagination
on careful paths
of impact pattern interconnection
evolving inquiry into deep impact induces
not reduces
inspires
not conspires
to embrace life force, anima
driving toward wholeness
however, even when we profess understanding
the common denominator in deep impact inquiry
remains mysterious
