Key themes in This White Nest include shadows and absences, and the human and natural worlds. Some poems speak from family and domestic spheres, while many others engage with archetypal and/or universal voices, incantatory Everywomen dealing with unspecified but difficult or even traumatic situations. The book also explores the wild places that remain in and around cities, engaging a sense of connection or mystery, so that lines between humans and objects in the environment (trees or ocean waves) become blurred, people identifying with and becoming part of the natural. The style is largely lyric or narrative free verse, with a few prose poems and experimental pieces.