Canvas Roll

1.

The roll of canvas we had bought
almost a year ago
from Barry's art studio 
has symptoms now
of hairy cell leukemia -
The hyper-ventilation
being particularly noticeable.

Usually, it stays
on the nightstand
wrapped in a gray plastic bag,
by a pot of green watercolor
that has gone anemic.

But this morning
I found it on the floor
quaking in a fit of violent cough.
So pale and erratic,
Frothing at the mouth -
That I thought it would die.

But it didn't,
Thankfully.

The medication helped.

It reminded me,
in a way, 
how strange life can be.
 
Living, now
Living, then
Gone
within a fraction of a second.