Looking for a Ladder in the Rain

Under the skin, where the light stops
just short of bruised ego,
the veins spread like prayer:

surprise me like a lipless kiss,
dead shepherds in the hallway
and beasts asleep on the floor.

Frozen in some other time,
a thawed-out bird 
tap-dances sideways 

on panes of clear shudder.
A procession of poplars
crowds out the bean fields.

A ghost with no bells
clangs like a mourner’s approach.
A drunk passes through the drywall.

Buttered-up breath is besieged by snarling dogs.
Bewilderment, in passing,
leaves the future in its wake.