CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Amber Cannon of Marshalltown has released her third poetry book “Prairie Grass Remedies.” A total of 70 poems fill its pages while her husband, Troy Cannon, provided the drawings and illustrations.

Amber Cannon is a local writer inspired by the natural world. She has just released her third — and largest — volume of poetry entitled “Prairie Grass Remedies.” A total of 70 poems fill its pages while her husband, Troy Cannon, provided the artwork.

“(There are) 23 hand-drawn illustrations, including the cover art done by my husband Troy, and three photographs. The poems are all ones that I have written over the past year, so I really pushed myself to make my goal of 70,” she said. “It was quite the undertaking since I was also finishing up my degree program full-time online.”

She holds an associate’s degree in wildlife/forestry conservation from Penn Foster College. Her main objective is to get a job at a wildlife rescue/rehab center or as a park ranger. A personal hero of hers is the late Jane Goodall. Her earlier books are called “Through Clouds and Sunshine” and “Weathered in Wildflowers.” Her most recent book’s title is a nod to where she enjoys spending time.

“So with all of my book titles, they center around a theme of how I use nature as a way of healing from life’s struggles,” Cannon said. “This time though I picked this specific title ‘Prairie Grass Remedies’ since over the past few years we’ve found a few places to go to that are conservation prairie land. In Iowa, wild places seem to be few and far between. Standing in shoulder-high prairie grass with native wildflowers sprinkled in between the blades in silence except for bees and pollinators foraging around; it feeds your soul and can remedy your troubles. It can put things into perspective and make issues much less prominent than they may seem.”

Inspiration comes from everyday life, including being employed at the Iowa Veterans Home. Her poem “Disposition” came out of meeting two different people while at work and “how just the simple interactions changed me and them.”

Also, to prepare the book, Cannon participated in a monthly “poetry potluck” where she was given a list of words where five of them would be included in a poem.

“It forced me to really think more outside the box and be more imaginative,” she added. “But I also do pull from my past and write about experiences I’ve had and how they’ve shaped me. Ultimately, my books have always had a theme of mental health and wanting others who may feel the same way to feel less alone.”

Cannon says she’s the type of writer who allows inspiration to strike whenever it happens to hit.

“The funny thing is that I never sit down during the day and say ‘okay I’m gonna write.’ Sometimes I do that if I already have a rough draft of a poem and I need to work it out, but for the most part, the ideas just hit me whenever,” she explained of the creative process. “Most often it hits me at work. If you ever look on top of my housekeeping cart I have paper there if I need to jot something down and I have covered my glove boxes in ideas while I’m cleaning so that I don’t forget them and can fine-tune them later. I do clean the arts and crafts and ceramics areas there at the Vets Home so maybe being in a creative environment has helped me feel inspired.”

Her books are available on Amazon as well as on select Kindle devices and within the Kindle app. She hopes to schedule book signings in the future. She’s participated in poetry readings through the Arts + Culture Alliance. Last May, she was the first to read her writings at Poets + Performers, an event sponsored by the Alliance, in partnership with the Marshalltown Public Library. She will be doing a live reading during the Alliance’s upcoming Local Poetry Exhibition Opening, set for 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. April 10, alongside Erica Madison, Les McCargar, Dan Sheeler and Kim Hanken, at the Alliance’s headquarters. Cannon will also have poetry from the new book displayed at the event as part of the exhibit. She’s also had poems published in several anthologies. Looking to the future, Cannon said she wants to continue to get her work out there and do additional speaking engagements.

“Through the connections I made at last year’s ACA poetry exhibit, I was able to go speak on a larger scale at Poetry on the Prairie in Perry and I really enjoyed it,” she said. “I do think the best way to truly understand what the writer means is to have them read their work out loud. I also have a WIP short story book that I started and wrote several stories for that I would love to finish and get that one published as well.”

In addition to her writing, Cannon would love to someday work with non-releasable raptors and go around teaching kids about them and the importance of them within the environment.

She may be reached at: alieum101@yahoo.com. Check out her work here: substack.com/@ambercannon1.