Expected to Continue
155 words dissecting my womanhood
In my thirties
I was scheduled to lead an overnight reset
at the chain bookstore where I managed.
Remove the books.
Relocate the fixtures.
Reshelve the books.
I was eleven weeks pregnant
when the schedule posted.
The day the shift arrived,
I began to miscarry.
I was expected to report to work.
I removed the books.
I relocated the fixtures.
I reshelved the books.
I bled.
When I was twelve,
I had the body of my twenty-year-old self.
Men called out
while I waited outside my middle school.
At a red light in downtown Kansas City
an old man parked beside us.
He stared.
Licked his lips.
Made kissing faces.
Motioned for me to roll down the window.
My mother told me to look away.
At the doctor’s
during my yearly pap smear
they ask how many pregnancies I have had.
I learned quickly
the response they are looking for is:
2 living,
1 deceased.
About the Creator
Cali Loria
Over punctuating, under delivering.
Reader insights
Outstanding
Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!
Top insight
On-point and relevant
Writing reflected the title & theme
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Comments (21)
Congratulations on the Win!
So beautifully written and a piece so many women can identify with. Congrats on your win!
Wooohooooo congratulations on your win! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
So much pain conveyed here and how sad that this experience of womanhood is so relatable for many beautiful work ♥️
You did a fabulous job with this beautifully written poem. I felt that horrible emotional disconnect between the immense loss of miscarriage and the reality that life goes on. I remember all too well going back to work, mourning the baby no one knew I had been carrying, and not knowing how to keep going. My most heartfelt congratulations on your win! It is such an honor to have my poem listed alongside yours.
💔 oh my - well done and congrats
this was so painful to read but a well deserved win! Congrats
I did read this thought I commented ages ago. Liked it ages ago. Let me be the first to congratulate you on such an emotive and brutally honest piece and another great win. Well done Cali!
The structure of this poem really struck me. Moving from childhood experiences to adulthood and loss makes the final line hit even harder. It’s a stark reminder of how women’s bodies are often observed, judged, and expected to continue regardless of what they’re going through.
Brilliant, those two vignettes say so much about what it is to be a woman.
A raw, intimate moment you’ve shared. We’ve shared. So many of us beyond us both, too. ❤️
This is excellent.
As a woman, I feel it. Thank you for such raw story.
Congratulations on your Top Story Cali! This hit me hard. It means something good when your words reach someone and make them feel. Well done.
COngrats Top Story ꧁🌹꧂꧁🌹꧂ ꧁🌹꧂
Simply impactful, real and grim. The many joys of being a woman written plainly.
Back to say congratulations on your Top Story! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
This is devastatingly powerful!
Dear Cali - You are the most 'real' writer in our 'hood. Too many youngins are writing three sentences that is their claim to fame. If they are "Writers," they should just write. This, with so few words, even this "Old Man" could feel you from your youth till the present..! My biggest regret is that we never had children. We had to play the hand that we were dealt..! Best to you, CL JK.in.l.a.
Oh shit, I'm so sorry this happened to you Cali 😭😭😭😭😭 Sending you lots of love and hugs 🥺❤️
Day-ummmmm. Totally unprepared for the gut punch last line. Knocked a hole in me in the best possible way.