BREAKFAST in Nigerian parlance

A pronunciation poem on some English vowels

Breakfast

Get ready
even when you two take a steady walk
in the meadow
Remember breakfast is for everyone, says Francis.

Don’t lay bare your whole heart, you mightn’t 
be able to bear the brunt 
So, take care of yourself, and fair well first.

Even if he is an heir or a mayor 
guard your heart hard 
lest you tear a piece of your cloth as tissue
when the tears keep flowing in torrents...
and crying becomes your flair,
heart as heavy as a lead.

Mere beers compound not only your problems
but also amplify your fears.

Even rare, scarce souls must also prepare
for their own fair share.

I know love may hurt;
but none prefers the dearth of it.

Phonemic transcriptions

Stanza 1: ready /‘redi/, steady /ˈstedi/, meadow /ˈmedəʊ/, breakfast /ˈbrekfəst/, says /sez/

Stanza 2: bare /beəʳ/, bear /beəʳ/, care /keəʳ/, fair /feəʳ/

Stanza 3: heir /eəʳ/, mayor /meəʳ/, tear (v) /teəʳ/, tear (n) /tɪəʳ/, flair /fleəʳ/, heavy /hevi/, lead (a heavy metal) /led/ guard /gɑːd/, heart /hɑːt/, hard /hɑːd/

Stanza 4: mere /mɪəʳ/, beers /bɪəʳz/, fears /fɪəʳz/

Stanza 5: rare /reəʳ/, scarce /skeəs/, prepare /prɪpeəʳ/, share /ʃeəʳ/

Stanza 6: hurt /hɜːt/, prefers /prɪ’fɜːz/, dearth /dɜːθ/

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With love and everything English,

Francis