The Inexhaustible Before

Bob Pfeiffer's second poetry collection dares us to be ';good to one another,' to be ';serious about experience,' and ';to enjoy / the smallest fragments of life.' It's a book about fatherhood, citizenship, andfirst and foremostlove. At turns funny, at turns enraged by injustice, these clear-eyed and kindhearted poems achieve hopefulness without falling into naivety. Indeed, they recognize that ';There is the world we have, / and the world we want,' and that a huge gulf exists between the two. Poetry, though, offers us, we who reside in that first world, a way to access the second, its joys and miracles, and we're lucky to have Bob Pfeiffer to show us the way.
James Davis May, author of Unquiet Things

In The Inexhaustible Before, his powerfully moving second collection of poems, Bob Pfeiffer writes, ';This world is divided into two types of people: those with empathy for the livingand those without.' Unquestionably the poems of this book express empathy at every turn: for past girlfriends, polar bears, animals struck by cars, tsunami victims, a mother diagnosed with cancer, a girlfriend become wife, a baby daughterUnderpinning the voice of this emotionally rich book is a belief in our shared humanity and the ultimate hope for redemption through love.
Beth Gylys, author of Sky Blue Enough to Drink

Bob Pfeiffer’s second poetry collection dares us to be “good to one another,” to be “serious about experience,” and “to enjoy / the smallest fragments of life.” It’s a book about fatherhood, citizenship, and—first and foremost—love. At turns funny, at turns enraged by injustice, these clear-eyed and kindhearted poems achieve hopefulness without falling into naivety. Indeed, they recognize that “There is the world we have, / and the world we want,” and that a huge gulf exists between the two. Poetry, though, offers us, we who reside in that first world, a way to access the second, its joys and miracles, and we’re lucky to have Bob Pfeiffer to show us the way.
— James Davis May, author of Unquiet Things

In The Inexhaustible Before, his powerfully moving second collection of poems, Bob Pfeiffer writes, “This world is divided into two types of people: those with empathy for the living…and those without.” Unquestionably the poems of this book express empathy at every turn: for past girlfriends, polar bears, animals struck by cars, tsunami victims, a mother diagnosed with cancer, a girlfriend become wife, a baby daughter…Underpinning the voice of this emotionally rich book is a belief in our shared humanity and the ultimate hope for redemption through love.
— Beth Gylys, author of Sky Blue Enough to Drink

The Million Small Things 9
Farewell to Christopher Robin 11
Above the Birds 12
At Thirty-three 14
The Charcoal Pit 15
On First Reading “For the Union Dead” 17
On the Ferry From Bremmerton to Seattle 18
Trying To Be Good 20
Petals 21
For the Couple Mourning Their Child 22
On A Park Bench Overlooking the Freeway 23
To a Friend, in Her Troubles 24
The Vatican Chimney Cam 26
Sending Them Off 27
Some You Won’t Forget 28
At 10th and Piedmont 29
Waiting for a Flight 30
Growing Up 31
Hanging the Screen Door 32
Miscarriage 33
Children’s Movies 34
The Million Small Things 35
Blackbird 36
Mockingbirds 37
Mama’s Boy 38
In the Greenhouse 39
The Last Morning 40
Searching for the Heartland 41
Finding the Name 43
To a Twelve-Week Fetus 44
Jump-a-Roo 45
Transfiguration 46
Nesting in the Outer Banks 47
Night Swimming 48
How To Get to Sesame Street 49
Fatherhood 50
Sunset on Pine Island 52
Departures 53
First Love 54
Going Down 55
The Umbrella 56
The Inexhaustible Before 58
The Beach in Winter 59
Dancing in Manhattan 60
Encounter at the Bar 61
A Descent 62
Searching for the Heartland 63
Morning Commute 65
Road Rage 66
To My Daughter 67
Settling 68
My Heart Is a God 69
Leaving Behind 71
Out of Place 72
A Return 73
On the Pages of National Geographic 74
To My Daughter, After Trump 76
Poetry Daily 78
The Cloth Under Sylvia’s Cheek 79
Larkin’s Deathbed 80
The Stillness Inbetween 81
Roadkill 82
Four Takes 83
On Our Fifth Anniversary 85
My Wife Peeling an Apple 86
Housewarming 87
After My Mother’s Surgery 89
My Heart Is a God 91
Stillness at the Lake 92
Watching an Old Man Watch the Sea 93
Meeting the Day 94
Dissolution 95
About the Author 97