Where are the girl players
An elder or two wonders
About a chess tournament
In the little village

I wonder too as I wander
(one Saturday morn on SAFM
It dawns on a presenter
That matric girls did better)

It trains young minds
Says our emperor
He himself a player
(of the game of chess
Lest you misheard me)

Where are the girl players
Might their minds be
Someplace else perhaps
Busy reading perhaps
Engaging in some maths
And science perhaps

(young girls urged
To take up careers
In science)

Perchance they thought
Competition rather than
Tournament and all
The attached male-nastiness

Like fight clash battle
Rivalry antagonism
And even war and the like

Here is the thing
Our emperor affirmed
To train young minds
Improving teaching
And learning too