On Finding a Tenure

Barirah Nazir

February 2, 2025

The deadlines are looming—

You need to bring money; 

You need to compete; 

Some patents, some royalty, a few papers

If you have to exist or you perish

Go beg if you would like, “Look:

I just searched and found it”

But Ms. R refuses to procreate:

No babies, no papers, no projects

Nothing to bring significance to lives 

Only idle discourse

Beckettian nothingness enshrouds

“Let’s (write), and they don’t (write)”

So, I sit here and do nothing impactful

And die a more painful death than a MENA baby.

Barirah Nazir is an Assistant Professor at the Department of English at the University of Sargodha, Pakistan. She is a Gold medalist in English literature from Bahauddin Zakariya University and has a PhD in commodification and nationalism from Massey University, New Zealand. Her work has been published locally in Pakistani magazines.

MENA = Middle Eastern North African