Ruth Jewell's "Wait" gives us one small scene: a person sitting in a boat on the sea, doing nothing but waiting. We never learn what they are waiting for, and that gap is what holds our attention. It could be a person, a change, an answer, or just the passing of time.
The speaker seems calm rather than anxious. The word "Quiet" opens the poem, and the sea is "dark and still," so nothing disturbs the moment. The purple and gold sky adds a touch of beauty, and it suggests the light of dusk or dawn, a time between one state and another, which fits the idea of waiting. Still, the repeated line "Alone, I wait" brings in loneliness. The poem ends where it nearly began, as if the waiting hasn't ended. The mood is peaceful, a little melancholy, and full of suspense.