Ryan Diaz - Our Lady of Longing

The Dewdrop once again features work from New York poet and theologian Ryan Diaz, who threads the needle between desire and purity and explores the grey areas with his poem “Our Lady of Longing”. This poem explores the fraught intersection of desire, sanctity, and repression within a sacred space. The poem interrogates how religious iconography can both police and awaken longing, blurring the lines between condemnation and human need. Through spare lyricism and layered symbolism, the poem questions inherited categories of purity, embodiment, and holiness, inviting the reader to consider what it means to be seen—and to long—within the gaze of the divine. “This piece explores the liminal space between the sacred and the sensual, following a moment of conflicted attention in a church setting where a priest’s gaze, a woman’s gesture, and the Virgin Mary’s marble stare converge,” Ryan told The Dewdrop. “It’s a meditation on desire, repression, and the complexity of holiness—how spiritual icons can become mirrors for very human longings.”

Our Lady of Longing

Bowing before the holy cross her dress
slips past her knee—a sure sign
of demonic influence or
at least that’s what the priest thought
as his eyes lingered up the curve
of her calf before averting his gaze,
eyes locked on the Holy Mother,
her cold marble glare, a sure sign
of condemnation…or maybe
something else:
a quiet longing for human contact.

To be more than a mother
with a babe at her knee

Ryan Diaz

Ryan Diaz is a writer and poet from Queens, NY. He holds a BA in History from St. Johns University and a MA in Biblical Studies from Reformed Theological Seminary. His writing has appeared in publications like Cathexis Northwest, Transcendentals, Dappled Things, The Dewdrop, The Curator, Ekstasis, Christianity Today, and Premier Christianity. He is the author of three poetry books, including The Wounded Monk, and a literary novel: Abuelo. Ryan’s poetic work seeks to find the divine in the ordinary, the thin place where the transcendent and the mundane meet. His interests include the literature of JRR Tolkien, Gary Snyder, and the Beats, the intersection of Poetry and Theology, the Christian Mystical Tradition, Zen Buddhism, and the relationship between Art and Religion. He lives in Queens, NY, with his wife, Janiece, and his son Damian and is a lifelong (self-loathing) New York Mets fan. Follow his work @ acontemplativesfieldguide.substack.com