D. COLIN

D. COLIN Poet. Performer. Visual Artist. Educator. patreon.com/dcolin

It was a time ✨️ such a beautiful story to tell! Thank you to everyone who attended 🙏🏾 There was so much love in the roo...
05/25/2026

It was a time ✨️ such a beautiful story to tell! Thank you to everyone who attended 🙏🏾 There was so much love in the room ❤️

It's not every play I get to meet a real life person I'm portraying on stage! Shout out to all of the real life Aunt Pookie’s Girls 🙌🏿 and to Mr. Willis L. Drake for welcoming us into this beautiful family history!! I had a wonderful time meeting you all 💐

And shout out to the Aunt Pookie’s Girls on stage with me 😊 I love sharing space with you all and so glad we got to be in this cast together 💙💛💚🧡🩵 😉

Thank you for taking on this creative endeavor and inviting us to be a part of the journey ✨️

Folks who want to engage with this story more and support
Get the book: Mary Ann Byas-Drake: Destined and Determined To Be a Nurse by Willis L. Drake

Follow for updates on future iterations of this production
For what I'm doing next, sign up for my newsletter on my website and to support this full-time time trying to make a living out of what I love artist, check out my Patreon community 🙏🏾 or depending on where you're seeing this ☺️

Story behind the work:Some folks know I used to do reenactments of Sojourner Truth. It started when I got cast for the p...
05/19/2026

Story behind the work:

Some folks know I used to do reenactments of Sojourner Truth. It started when I got cast for the play "The Stone that Started the Ripple" by Patricia Nugent back in 2015. I did reenactments of Sojourner Truth for years after that which required a deep study of her life for storytelling and a live Q & A in character. The more I did it, the more I modified how I performed before. Finding the original of the "Ain't I a Woman" speech and doing that instead. Deciding not to do a southern accent because she was born in Ulster County, NY and her first language was Dutch.

Typically, I got booked by schools, churches, and event organizers. I shared a lot about her life but there was one story that never really made it into the reenactment.

In 1851, it was illegal according to the Indiana state constitution for Black people to live there. Black folks weren't even allowed to visit the state. Steuben County didn't agree with this and despite the dangers, Sojourner Truth went there to speak. No one recorded her speech that day but when she got up to address the audience, a hostile group heckled her, accusing her of being a man and challenging her to show her breasts to the women. Instead she showed them to the whole audience and said her breasts "had suckled many a white babe."

Her tenacity was remarkable. This painting honors that story with the backdrop of the planet Mars, where the first wheeled robotic rover, named Sojourner, landed. I also centered a quote from Sojourner in my intention behind painting: "I am not going to die, I'm going home like a shooting star."

I haven't done a reenactment of her in quite some time. But I can keep telling her powerfully resilient story in other ways. Prints of this painting are available now ($25-$50) and the original (which is 36 x 48 inches) needs a home.

therevartshop.com

Not going to lie. I'm tired but every time I want to throw in the towel, something happens that affirms I should keep go...
05/18/2026

Not going to lie. I'm tired but every time I want to throw in the towel, something happens that affirms I should keep going. I can't wait to tell y'all some news I'm sitting on.

In the meantime, if you missed my performance at the You, Me and Poetry Festival, I dropped a new episode of my podcast, d.colin.ized today with one of the poems from my set called "Sacred Land"

Today's episode is in honor of Haitian Flag Day 🇭🇹 ✊🏿

More coming soon but if you dont want to wait, my whole set is already uploaded for my supporters on Patreon ($3/month). I hope you consider joining ✨️ (link in my linktree )

2 shows, a workshop series and a writing circle ✨️If you haven't seen the current exhibit at Spring Street Gallery in S...
05/09/2026

2 shows, a workshop series and a writing circle ✨️

If you haven't seen the current exhibit at Spring Street Gallery in Saratoga Springs, the 21st is a good day to go 😉 I'll be there at 6 pm to do a poetry reading with poems from the art I have on display in the exhibit followed by a Q & A.

Happy to be part of the cast for Aunt Pookie’s Girls directed and written by the one and only Hettie Barnhill 🙌🏿 I play Terriana Jackson aka Cookie 😊 This play is a warm reflection on sisterhood and family legacy. That's happening on the 23rd.
Then my 5-week workshop series, First Draft, starts on the 25th. It's a generative experience for poets and poetry enthusiasts to write, revise, and learn new ways of starting and writing a poem. It's a virtual class so anyone can sign up.
And of course, The Write Situation is every Tuesday at KBK Studios .studios if you're looking for a creative space and community to get writing done.
I'd love to see you in person or on zoom 🙏🏾

Have you gotten your copy of ? I feel like I'm stretching a different muscle writing this way and grateful for the space...
05/07/2026

Have you gotten your copy of ? I feel like I'm stretching a different muscle writing this way and grateful for the space to do it.
Thank you to the amazing Mary Panza for a great chat! There's so much from the interview that didn't make it into the article. I could have written a five more pages from our talk. Thanks for your generosity with your stories and time 🙏🏾
I also want to read and share poems from poets living in the Capital Region ✨️ Send me 1-3 poems for consideration at [email protected]
Peace and poems 😊

My office today is at in Albany...Sometimes I need a different shared space to work out of. The ambient noise of other ...
05/04/2026

My office today is at in Albany...Sometimes I need a different shared space to work out of. The ambient noise of other people doing their work and the brightness of this space help me work when I'm not at my studio. What are some of your alternate spaces for getting your work done? Co-working spaces, cafés, libraries?
Remember, tomorrow is Tuesday 😉 See you at .studios for The Write Situation starting at 7 pm

Thank you Adonis Richards for the invitation to perform and congratulations on all you are doing and big up the entire t...
05/04/2026

Thank you Adonis Richards for the invitation to perform and congratulations on all you are doing and big up the entire team for all your work ✨️

Shout out to all the performers last night!! 🙌🏿 Rae' Frasier and Angelo Justice Maddox did an awesome job hosting 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

Thank you Wallace Reid for taking this photo of me on the mic 🙂

I wore blue and most of set was Haiti inspired poems because it's Haitian Heritage Month 🇭🇹 🇭🇹 I said on the mic I have nine copies left of Dreaming in Kreyol and those are the last nine indefinitely. Thank you to all the folks who bought those up! And for all who showed me love last night 🙏🏾

I got asked about The Fish Market last night. Y'all, I'm not there anymore. But you can find me at KBK Studios every Tuesday night for The Write Situation and everything else on my newsletter 💖 see you there 😉

Y'all I dont know what you're doing on a Tuesday night but as for us...we had such a warm, insightful gathering of deep ...
04/08/2026

Y'all I dont know what you're doing on a Tuesday night but as for us...we had such a warm, insightful gathering of deep feelings, humor, community and new writing ✨️ So many gems in conversation tonight ✨️
I'm so happy about The Write Situation and what we're building 🙌🏿
One of the prompts tonight was from my list of prompts on Patreon: Write a poem about the origin of an item that decorates your home. (The other 29 for this month are there!)
Join us next week if you're looking for time to write or want to write in community. Every Tuesday at 7 pm .studios!
My spirit is full. Thank you all for coming out tonight and sharing space, musings and beautiful stories 🙏🏾
P.S. Shout out to who's prompt I used for my own writing tonight and to for the signing copies of Chrome Valley and A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe

Happy National Poetry Month! Technically, I started my daily poem writing for this month last night at The Write Situati...
04/01/2026

Happy National Poetry Month! Technically, I started my daily poem writing for this month last night at The Write Situation which I have to say is the highlight of my Tuesdays now ✨️ I'm so grateful to the folks who've shown up so far. Last night we worked with the sounds of a thunderstorm doing it's business outside. I ended up writing a poem about the time I ran to the outhouse in pouring rain in Haiti.
I posted 30 writing prompts to my Patreon ($5 tier). Today's was to write about a time you felt like a fool. So I did that and added a prompt today to that to get a draft.
I pulled some books off of my shelf to read this month too. Started with Blood Dazzler by and my goodness wow.
The full list is on my website (dcolin.com link in the bio) if you want to join in on reading. Maybe we can have a virtual meetup. I just feel before I buy more books, I should read some I've been meaning to read.
If you're in the area, pick up a copy of ✨️ I'm the new poetry column writer 🙌🏿 I've got plans for it but I'd love to hear from you what you want to see 👀
A bird was chillin on the tree outside my window at the studio today. Looked like no fear. Happy writing and reading poetry this month. May it feel as freeing as this little bird 🐦 ✨️ 😊

03/25/2026

Shared a poem on the senate floor for an arts rally today ✨️ Somehow there's always funding for a war but not enough for the arts. Make it make sense. Art preserves and reminds us of our humanity, inspires change and empowers us to rise through difficult times. Book artists. Pay artists. Fund the arts and see what happens.

Thank you to everyone who spoke today and to Lucy Sexton and Liz Reiss for the invitation

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