In this sobering and deeply moving first collection, Nathan Poole depicts men, women, and children at odds with themselves and one another, often reeling in the aftermath of loss. A father grapples with his young son’s proclivity to run naked through their orchard at night and what such behavior portends for the boy’s future. A teenager discovers a so-called kennel in a neighbor’s field where dogs are caged in modified barrels and grossly neglected. Father Brother Keeper displays an array of astonishing gifts rare to find in an author’s first book: intense lyricism, remarkable emotional generosity, and an eye for the compelling event.