There are at least two Anarchas that appear in J. Marion Sims's autobiography. One, is the famed Anarcha from the Wescott Plantation who endured numerous experiments at Sims's hands, but there is also the Anarcha that appears earlier in Sims's self-story described here. She was described as a mulatta who assisted in a bloodletting of Sims himself. These two Anarchas appear to Sims as turning points in his own thinking, experience, and practice of and with medicine. I imagine this Anarcha speaking here, toward his description of her and the practice of bloodletting in the larger scope of Sims's infamous medical practices. To view the original version of this poem, see the supplemental material section of this article online.
Keywords: arts in public health; ethics; gynecology; history; medical care; medical history; poetry as praxis; poetry for the public’s health; pseudoscience; slavery.