The threshold- the moment when a situation or a person is transformed into something new, for either good or ill- is the central image of From Whence. In many of these lyric poems, the moment of change either is in sharp focus or is exerting its gravitational pull on the poem.

This new collection of lyric poetry uses the idea of the "threshold moment" as its central metaphor. Chitwood's threshold moments can be anything from the instant when a rock being held up by a frozen pond melts through and makes its plunge to the moment when a child realizes his childhood is lost forever. The poems demonstrate that these moments can bring about changes for either better or worse. Chitwood describes this collection as a hymn to both the joy and loss that can be found in these transitional moments.