Brandon Leake Says Poetry Gave Him a Home He Never Thought He Had
TheEllenShow/YouTube Reading Time: 2 minutes
Brandon Leake joined Ellen Degeneres today to talk about his new book on her talk show. The America’s Got Talent winner’s book will be released this March.
Since winning the series, Brandon has gone on to share his poetry on a larger platform and experiment with other art forms. He returned to the AGT stage during the past season with people from his community and has been supporting his community with his prize money. The group is going into 25 different schools to put on reading and writing workshops for students.
In March, Brandon will be releasing his first poetry book called Unravelling. The poetry described this book as a collection of poems that all sucked in the beginning. As always, Brandon was extremely open on the fact that his art involves practice and plenty of refining.
The Process Behind His Poetry
When it comes to how he writes, Brandon notes that it’s always a different process. Sometimes he finds inspiration from a random line that pops in his head and other times he figures the topic out A to Z.
“Probably the only consistent thing is something I mentioned before, they all suck in the beginning,” Brandon said. “I think that’s a really encouraging thing for a lot of people because I think a lot of folks think you have to be great at something to start in order to keep going, when in all actuality you have to start and keep pushing.”
This poet shared that has been writing since he was 10 or 11. His earliest work was for a middle school crush. The poem never got to her, but instead went to another girl in the class. Brandon joked and said they dated for a few months after that. As fans of this poet know, he doesn’t only write about admiration. He writes about life, love, and pretty much everything that’s on his mind.
“I’ve saved myself so many R&B slow jam nights of heartbreak with these poems. Just being able to write out my thoughts and feelings on paper, it’s given me a home that I never thought I had,” Brandon said.
Brandon performed his poem, The Secret Life of Teachers after being interviewed on the show. Before reciting the poem, the poet described it as a perspective of someone who was in a classroom and had to go through active shooter training. Brandon is a former teacher, so he shared this poem from first hand experience.
