Poetry is art. Not art made from paint, but art found in combinations of words. Poetry has infiltrated politics. "When power corrupts, poetry cleanses," JFK maintained. Former New York governor Mario Cuomo once said politicians campaign in poetry but govern in prose. It will be interesting to see if his son, the current New York governor, brings poetry to his governing style. He's already brought romance—New York State doesn't have a First Lady. It has a First Girlfriend! Governor Andrew Cuomo isn't married. But he does have a girlfriend. She's famous in her own right and is no doubt richer than the governor. She has built an empire based on cooking. In particular, she's famous for semi-homemade cooking. She uses some store-bought food and combines it with homemade ingredients to save time. Her technique makes it seem as if the whole dish is homemade. There's been some talk about the appropriateness of having her live in the Executive Mansion in the state capital of Albany. Most New Yorkers, though, seem to like the idea of having a beautiful and successful woman sharing the top political spot with the governor. Who cares if they are not married. Sandra Lee grew up very poor. She says her childhood ended when she was 11. There was a lot of tragedy in her life. But, she overcame it all. By age 25, she was a millionaire. She lost everything, though, and a few years later, she had to start all over again. She's a bestselling author--13 books. In her books, she talks honestly about her abusive childhood and about mistakes she has made. She doesn't look back though and doesn't take a "pity-me" approach to life. Instead, she's made it her mission to help feed America's poor and hungry. A lot of people admire her. Me, too.

Follow-Up Questions

Do I stay on topic in most of the writing, or do I shift to another topic? Am I more interested in my initial or my new topic? ANSWER: I did move around a bit, from poetry to politics, to a Governor's girlfriend who likes to cook. And the cooking led me to think about people going hungry in America, which is something I think about a lot.

What words are repeated in my writing? ANSWER: Repeated words: "Poetry," "cooking" and food-related words.

Which of my ideas can be backed up with research during the subsequent research process? ANSWER: There's bound to be a lot of information about the poor in America and about hunger in America, too.

Can I identify one or two questions that most of my freewrite responds to? ANSWER: Why are so many people "foodies"? Which celebrities are trying to help the poor?