PALMER — The Mat-Su Valley knows David Cheezem as a local business owner, former state House candidate, member of the Palmer Planning Commission and as a board member for the Palmer Arts Council.

Come March 28, the Valley can get to know Cheezem the poet. For the first time in about 10 years, the owner of Fireside Books will host a reading of his own poetry at 6:30 p.m. And while locals know Cheezem as one of the Valley’s more vocal Democratic Party voices, Cheezem says his verse is more an emotional expression than a calculated political statement.

“We all use language all the time, and we use it for different purposes,” he says. “Poetry is kind of the place you go when you want to do something better than a talking point or a business or a technical document. Poetry should be a place for the questions, a place to go for the parts of life you don’t understand completely.”

ROBERT DeBERRY/Frontiersman Fireside Books owner and poet David Cheezem stands outside his Palmer store Thursday afternoon.

That’s not to say those questions and inner thoughts expressed in Cheezem’s poetry don’t show his interest in politics.

“Politics are a big part of our lives and who we are, so politics are in the poetry,” he said. “For me, to avoid politics would be to avoid a whole part of my life. But, the stance is different. It’s not a speech, it’s a haunting, it’s a question. It’s ‘Why?’ ‘How did we get here?’ Anything that disturbs the water should at least be allowed to come out in a poem.”

He also has a passion for language, written and spoken, which is why Cheezem says he’s not nervous to read his work out loud to the public.

“I enjoy it,” he says. “When I write, I’m really using my ear as best I can. It comes alive to me when I say it out loud. I think there’s always either, in the forefront or the background, that there’s always the hint of (the spoken word) there. Sometimes the music is all on the page, sometimes it’s really meant to be read out loud.”

Those interested in listening to Cheezem recite his poetry can do so a week from tomorrow at Fireside Book. The reading is not recommended for children.

Perhaps following the advice of poet Robert Graves — who wrote, “There’s no money in poetry, but there’s no poetry in money, either” — there is no charge to attend the reading.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.