Remnants

Annemarie Estor’s epic ‘Remnants’ unfolds as a single, continuous poem in seven cycles. It describes the development of the relationship between Sandy and the sniper, two people who each live in separate worlds, but in one village. The sniper was already announced in a previous collection as a “radical” beekeeper from the mountains, a “man with a dead heart.” In ‘Remnants’, he shoots to kill — but not with a weapon; he does so with his scent. And she allows herself to get intoxicated.

The epic contrasts strong near-apocalyptic imagery with overwhelming recipes for perfumes. This evokes a world unsettlingly similar to our present reality. But the same time the poem conveys a sense of belief that leaves room for hope. This notion of belief is introduced immediately in the opening cycle, entitled ‘I believe’, with the words ‘I believe’ repeated five times on the very first page.

Sandy’s faith in the laws of nature — pheromones, hormones — that irrevocably bring the pair together stands opposed to the sniper’s radical belief that preaches that a better world can only be achieved through violence. These ideas are amplified by the villagers into crude accusations. Ultimately, however, he turns out to be the embodiment of balminess. This raises the question of what kind of world we have ended up in, when even tenderness can be framed as a weapon.

On a more general level, the book is about perceptions of radicalization, about rumours regarding human traffickers, and about how little we in Europe know about migrants.