Funny and influential poet James Tate has been up to something unusual in the latter half of his long career, represented by The Eternal Ones of the Dream, a new selection of his poems, says critic Craig Morgan Teicher. "Tate usually starts somewhere plausible but unlikely," he explains. The poem "Shiloh" begins "On Monday, Miss Francis told her sixth-grade / class that she was getting married soon," leading into a story about a teacher who bends her students' ears about breakups

The wildly funny and wildly influential Tate has been up to something sinister in the latter half of his long career, represented by this new selection. While spinning silly yarns about guys who befriend goats and have statues erected in their honor without their knowledge, he's also created a new form — a hybrid of prose and poetry that is neither prose poem nor story. He usually starts somewhere plausible but unlikely: "On Monday, Miss Francis told her sixth-grade / class that she was