ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE WEEK:
- Stop! Take a moment to just listen to the sounds of Spring. Watch the flowers bud and bloom. Smell the sweet scents and observe all the beauty around you, and know you are an essential part of it.
Poet and Writer
N.S. Rettmann
Hey everyone! I'm N.S. Rettmann, I'm a poet and writer.
I started writing when I was very young, as an escape from a world that was often not very kind. I sought and found glimpses of simple kindness. I hung onto these glimpses like gold in my pocket and sunshine in my soul. I love a good short story with eccentric characters. Stories that make you think. Stories of developing faith, bad situations turning good, or ones that stream on softly like a rowboat on a quiet pond carrying you along peacefully like a daydream on a sunny day, or ones that shelter you from the steady driving rainstorms of life. Then there are those jots on thoughts of different topics like peace and chaos, pain and forgiveness and how these are sometimes, or often, linked to each other like we all are in one way or another.
About me and my writing
I write from my own experiences, those of others, and from my imagination. I write as the Spirit touches my heart and inspires my soul.
I am a 33 year Army veteran. My husband and I have raised two children, one dog, and a tropical wood turtle. I write from my own experience, those of others, and from my imagination. I write as the Spirit touches my heart and inspires my soul. My love of nature and deep faith seep into my writing as do my experiences with pain, hardship, and overcoming life's challenges including teenage homelessness, hunger, Loss, and military experiences including deployments and humanitarian aid. These poems, prayers, and stories are steeped in encouragement and hope, to inspire every reader to keep going, keep reaching.
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Books I've written
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Lines and Rhymes
Books I'm currently Working on
Peace, Love, and Body Armor - Stories from military experiences or perspectives. Looking for a literary agent to help in the publishing of this collection of stories. Thanks friends for all the help and patience.
Leaves in the Wind - Nature poems. Manuscript has been printed for potential illustration.
Oh Well, That's Life - Stories centered on the challenges of life. I will continue to work on this after Peace, Love, and Armor and Leaves in the wind are prepared for publication.
To Love, a Call to Action - Poems and prayers. I've got the shell of this one but still compiling for future editing and publication.
Note: I am still working on Skipping Stones, but have put off that collection work until I can complete the above theme specific works which will feed the Skipping Stones collection.
23 March 2026 - Great poem for Easter! This poem is about how all creation is connected to God. God is the King of the universe, master of all space, time, and matter, Lord of all creation. In the beginning, God.
Out and about with Poetry...
15 April 2026 - STEEL CITY POETRY GRAND SLAM! hosted by the Pittsburgh Poetry Collective at City of Asylum, 40 W. North Ave! Signups start at 6:00 PM, performance at 7:00 PM. I will be there!
4 May- I will be co-hosting and also reading poetry at Poetry & Pints which occurs on the first Monday evening out at Burgher's Brewing, 3601 Butler Street in Lawrenceville, PA. Signups start at 5:30 PM and readings begin at 6 PM.
Every Tuesday evening is Open Mic, hosted by the Pittsburgh Poetry Collective at the Pittsburgh Poetry Lounge 313 North Avenue in Millvale! Signups start at 6:00 PM and performance at 7:00 PM. I am usually there on the first and fourth Tuesdays of each month (unless a Steel City Slam or Poetry & Pints occur that same week). Next I'll be at are 28 April and 26 May.
Image Gallery
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Contacts
If you want to contact me, the best way is by email. Although it may take me a while to get back to you, I promise I will.