"For Robert Gibb, 'almost nothing' is 'almost enough,' and his achievement in this long-awaited and essential collection of his early books lies in the results of his labor: 'The work of memory is permanence.' Gibb is one of the folks to whose work I turn when I seem to forget how poems are written, or how they should be written. This book belongs among those worn American classics crammed on the rough-hewn shelf nailed onto the mudroom wall." —Michael Waters 

"With What the Heart Can Bear, Robert Gibb can now take his rightful place in that rare, indispensable realm we reserve for the finest of our American poets. These are powerful, intimate lyrics, generous and beautifully crafted, that restore something of the original awe and mystery of the world around us." —Robert Hedin

Robert Gibb was born and still lives in Homestead, Pennsylvania. He is the author of seven books of poetry. Among his awards are the National Poetry Series, two Poetry Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Pushcart Prize, seven Pennsylvania Council on the Arts grants, The Wildwood Poetry Prize, and the Devil’s Millhopper Chapbook Prize.