Apparently there is a  lot here for discussion, pros and cons wise of using metaphor. And, perhaps I was being too visceral in my comment. Avoiding cliche is a good policy. Being original is the best and sometimes the most difficult. But, using too much “show” is a judgment, and I suppose if one goes “over the top” it is reduced to comedy, which may be what is wanted, or just plain silly if not trite. I recall a MASH episode where Col. Potter used about seven different terms all relating to horse droppings and meadow muffins, combining alliteration, allusion and synonym.

I was critiqued once, by a reader, not a writer, for not “having enough description.” This observation was from a “fantasy fan reader.” If I remember correctly, one of the shortest chapters in literature was in the book “As I lay Dying.”  Faulkner wrote his character’s observation, “My mother is a fish.” End of chapter. The character’s mother died. He had observed earlier a rotting fish. One has to show as well as tell. You must be concrete and try to involve all the senses.