The heart of poetry is metaphor. They teach it wrong in school. They make you memorize the difference between metaphor and simile (like something vs is something) as if the names are what matter. But the idea behind metaphor is to use a different name for a thing, using the name you say to express something about the name you don't say.
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." (That's Shakespeare, in case you forgot) That's from a love poem. He's not actually talking about roses. Get it?
Metaphor and simile are both ways of comparing concepts about things. They help the poet choose words and they help the reader build an image or feeling of the poet's meaning. They are more powerful than simple description because they touch the subject in more interesting ways.
If a poem isn't working, maybe you need a better metaphor. Or a better simile. Whatever.