Poetry about the Enron Scandal

Hi, i am supposed to compose a ballad poem about how Enron fell. i included the California energy crisis in here. a ballad is basically written in four line stanzas, and my rhyming scheme is abab, cdcd, etc. it is supposed to be rich in imagery, and i dun have enough. anyways all suggestions are welcome!

Enron - Ballad

Patterns of old tortoise shell
Unasked and unexplained
The trading floor whispered under spell
To agony they were chained

Carcass torn down to the selfish gene
In the room that lay the brightest minds
Darwinism carried to the angel side of sin
Survival of the fittest becomes the rule defined

Free market drenched in drinks
Deregulation was not far
Enron squatted like an avid sphinx
Kaleefornhyah becomes the Death Star

So Kaleefornhyah went out of power
And they say, "We are merely creative."
So the milk went sour
And they say, "We are merely human instincts going native."

One trader asked, "Gettin' rich?"
The other replied, "Tryin' to."
So they robbed poor grandmother Mitsch
This way their bonuses accrue

Patterns of old tortoise shell
Unasked and unexplained
The trading floor maddened under spell
To agony they were chained

There is only one hunger here
With gravity so strong that humanity collapses onto itself
Into a singularity so dense of fear
And they say, "It is only the inherent self."

The massive hole has pierced through
Rinse with salt water
Teeth shredded the annual reports to useless clue
Which sheep is in for slaughter?

Patterns of old tortoise shell
Unasked and unexplained
The trading floor passed away under spell
To agony they were chained

In general, according to the Almighty Overmind "ballads are written in ballad stanzas or quatrains (four line stanzas) of alternating lines of iambic (an unstressed followed by a stressed syllable) tetrameter (eight syllables) and iambic trimeter (six syllables)." Your lines do not follow this pattern. In fact, they don't even have the eight/six/eight/six syllable pattern down, much less the iambic rhythm that is called for. So, if you want this poem to be a ballad, you are going to have to revise it to have the traditional meter. This isn't as hard as it seems. Mostly, you just have to get used to hearing the rhythm and counting syllables, which may take a hour or two of practice. After that, the task will become much easier.

I love this stuff above! It's great poetry. Below is a paragraph that can be revised to include more of the imagery -- colorful adjectives to create mental pictures.

One trader asked ... their bonuses accrue.

I am impressed with this.

Thanks for the comments guys. Sean, I might need to clear that up with my teacher. He didnt mention about the meters and thank you so much for pointing that out. Kevin, i will start to knock some imagery out of that para you pointed out :D

It may be that your teacher isn't concerned about your use of meter, in which case your poem is in good shape. However, if you are supposed to be writing a ballad specifically, then I'm guessing the meter will be important. Otherwise, why specify that particular form in the first place?

What!? Don't knock it out; add more in. That is what I meant. Throw in a few words that make you see something. When you mention in your writing, for example, a blue ant... the reader really sees one in the mind.

oops, i meant add more in haha txs for the advice