In the title poem "Emblems," the wedding shoe with the strawberry imprint on its white satin, saved these many years, is a reminder of the past, its sweetness and joy. Many of the poems in this collection focus on saved objects, emblems, some of which have outlived their owners. In addition to personal history, they can tell of the larger history that informs the present.
Nolde was raised in a small farming community in Sullivan County, New York, in the house built by her great grandparents on the land cleared by her great-great grandparents, immigrants from Ireland. Her work is rooted in that rural life, now in decline, that thrived through much of the twentieth century. Many of her poems in formal and free verse lament the loss of that culture and express the need to preserve the best of its traditions. Her work reflects her belief that understanding and connecting to the past helps achieve balance in what is often a chaotic present.
Many of Nolde's poems celebrate her continued connection to Sullivan County, New York, where she and her husband live a rural life for part of each year. Her sestina "Promise of Flowers" about her husband's flower garden and "On Our Anniversary," both love poems, are also poems about the centering effect of being connected to nature.
The importance of family, particularly the bonds between parent and child, provides a rooted center that allows one to connect to the larger world. Many of Nolde's poems that grew out of world travel: India, Egypt, Sahara, Auschwitz, explore the human heart that unites us all.
"Elephant Wisdom," a crown of sonnets, which ends the collection, culminates the exploration of the bonds to family, culture, history, nature, and to one another that give life resonance and meaning.