Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale- pg 83 lyrics

The prisoner accepts a cigarette from
One of the Angels
Puts it awkwardly to his lips
With his bound hands he gives a lopsided
Little grin the announcer
Is saying something, but I don’t hear
It: I look into this man’s eyes
Trying to decide what he’s thinking
He knows the camera is
On him: is the grin a show of defiance
Or is it submission? Is he embarrassed
At having been caught?
They only show us victories
Never defeats who wants bad news?
Possibly he’s an actor
The anchorman comes on now
His manner is kindly
Fatherly he gazes out at us from the
Screen, looking
With his tan and his white hair
And candid eyes, wise wrinkles around them
Like everybody’s ideal
Grandfather what he’s telling us
His level smile implies
Is for our own good everything will be all
Right soon i promise there will be peace you
Must trust you must got to sleep
Like good children he tells us what we long
To believe he’s very convincing
I struggle against him he’s like an
Old movie star, I tell myself, with false
Teeth and a face job at the
Same time I sway towards him
Like one hypnotized if only it were
True if only I could believe
Now he’s telling us that
An underground espionage ring
Has been cracked by a team of Eyes
Working with an inside informant the
Ring has been smuggling
Precious national resources over the
Border into Canada
"Five members of the heretical
Sect of Quakers have
Been arrested, " he says, smiling blandly
"and more arrests are anticipated"
Two of the Quakers appear on screen, a
Man and a woman they look terrified
But they’re trying to preserve
Some dignity in front of the camera the man
Has a large dark mark
On his forehead the woman’s veil
Has been torn off
And her hair falls in strands over her
Face both of them are about fifty
Now we can see a city
Again from the air this used to be
Detroit under the voice of the
Announcer there’s the thunk of artillery from
The skyline columns of smoke ascend
"Resettlement of the Children of the
Ham is continuing on schedule
" says the reassuring pink
Face, back on the screen "Three thousand have
Arrived this week in National Homeland One
With another two thousand in transit" How are
They transporting that many people at once?