How much death works,

死神的任务有多少，

No one knows what a long

没人知道多漫长

Day he puts in. The little

自他投入工作那天。幼小的

Wife always alone

妻子总是独自

Ironing death’s laundry.

熨烫死神的衣衫。

The beautiful daughters

漂亮的女儿们

Setting death’s supper table.

布置着死神的晚餐桌。

The neighbors playing

邻居们玩着

Pinochle in the backyard

纸牌游戏在后院

Or just sitting on the steps

或是蹲在台阶

Drinking beer. Death,

喝啤酒。死神

Meanwhile, in a strange

此刻，在城里一个

Part of town looking for

陌生的地方搜寻

Someone with a bad cough,

某个咳嗽严重的人，

But the address is somehow wrong,

但地址不知何故出错，

Even death can’t figure it out

连死神都无法辨认

Among all the locked doors ...

所有上锁的门......

And the rain beginning to fall.

雨落下来。

Long windy night ahead.

狂风的夜晚就要来临。

Death with not even a newspaper

死神甚至都没有一张报纸

To cover his head, not even

遮挡自己的头，也没有

A dime to call the one pining away,

一毛钱去电话通知

Undressing slowly, sleepily,

那个脱衣缓慢，伸展四肢

And stretching naked

一丝不挂地躺在

On death’s side of the bed.

死神床边的憔悴的人。