Snow

No, not deficient in language skills, but there's much more to writing poetry than selecting an "accurate" word. 

for example, "...those austere and lonely offices?" is an ending to a fine poem. It uses an unusual word for a poem, austere, but in this case it adds to the distance between the working class father of the poem and the more educated boy who took him for granted for many years.

Accretions is the wrong word here for many reasons but mainly for the sound of it, not the sense.  It sounds harsh. It sounds like secretions. It doesn't do any extra work to help the sense of the poem along. 

As far as the abstractions, you are correct about generally using suggestion over more strident, obvious language. It adds to the mystery of a poem.  Abstractions are a different animal altogether.  They fuzz up the narrative in frustrating ways and prevent the reader from connecting with the material.

Have you read the Emporer of Ice Cream? If not, you should check that out.

Brent