“ J. Marion Sims, the legendary, now controversial, 19th century gynecologist looms large in Bettina Judd’ s recent collection Patient. Sophisticated, complex, haunting, Patient. beckons readers to remember, to feel, to think deeply, to discover, to probe. Slavery’ s stench, the bodies of Black women, death, scientific racism, memory-these themes link the poems in extraordinary ways. Judd is a masterful new poet. Patient. is unforgettable!!” -Beverly Guy-Sheftall