Skipping Rope Snake

I am thinking coming here was a mistake,
But I could never change my fate.
Regretable things happened again and again,
I just sighed to my soul-mate.

I have tried join-the-dots
on a leopard's spot,
But my pencil jabbed
and the big cat got cross.

I tried playing card with a crocodile,
but he just couldn't shuffle
and I didn't like its smile.

I tried played skipping rope,
But that skipping-rope-snake was too slippery
and hissed and whooshed like having dope.

I am thinking coming here was a mistake,
But how could I change my fate?

[This poem was rewritten from a children's bookthe skipping-rope snake by Carol Ann Duffy, published by Macmillan, 2003.]