ESMERALDA 
I am Esmeralda Agrón, Señora. 
I know I've no right to speak. 
My son is not the savage boy you see, 
The cape, the sneer, the slicked-back hair 
It hides the child I nursed and bathed, Señora. 
Please don't turn your eyes from me 
Your son, gone to God, and mine to blame 
My fated son, 
He too is gone 
The state will see to that, I am sure, Señora 
The state will see to that, I am sure. 

1ST MOTHER
You Spanish people, you come to this country 
Nothing here changes your lives 
Ungrateful immigrants asking for pity 
When all of your answers are knives 
This city makes a cartoon of a crime 
Capes and umbrellas the glorification of slime 
I have to face this horror, Señora. 

2ND MOTHER
My religion 
Asks me to pray for the murderer's soul 
But I think you'd have to be 
Jesus on the cross 
To open your heart after such a loss 
Can I forgive him? 
Can I forgive him? 
No, I cannot 
Can I forgive him 
No, I cannot 

Friends become strangers 
Compassion is hard to express in words 
The trembling flowers they bring 
Fear in the roots and the stem 
What happened to me they know could happen to them. 
Can I forgive him 
No, I cannot 
Can I forgive him 
No 

ESMERALDA
Only God can say 'Forgive' 
His son too received a knife 
But we go on, we have to live 
With this cross we call our life 

1ST MOTHER 
Feels like a bomb fell 
And wave after wave come the aftershocks 

2ND MOTHER 
You can't believe that it's true 
There must be some mistake 
You drift through this nightmare from which you can't wake 

BOTH MOTHERS 
Can I forgive him? 
Can I forgive him, 
No, I cannot 

Can I forgive him? 
Can I forgive him, no, I cannot 

Can I forgive him? 
Can I forgive him, no, I cannot 

Can I forgive him 
No, I cannot.