Lincoln's Birthday (Revision 4)

[wystan1000]

I know what you mean (indeed I just pulled the "but it happened!" card on you elsewhere in the forum), but at the end of the day we are artists, not autobiographers, and our aim is to be as economical as possible, while conveying emotional truth. There is no room for spare words - narrative or otherwise - in great poetry. It's called material for a reason. It's what we work with to produce art.
I'll leave it there but I see a truly great poem in a one-stanza effort.