Similes

Similes are a most elegant form of iambic writing, but I find the necessity of the words like and as to be primitive. It conveys a bulky structure containing the poetic flow. Having something hinder the mellifluous quality of your comparison is not what I consider to be a successful writing experience. 

The secret that they don't tell you when you learn similes in middle school is that they aren't reliant on like and as. It takes a little creativity, a little ingenuity, a little extra brainstorming, and maybe a gander to the border of personification, but successful similes can exist without those two constricting words.

The words were gouged into wood with all the rough brutality of a tigers claws.

Her eyes were twin pools of liquid silver, but tender and vulnerable in ways that water was too insubstantial to convey. 

The hollow blue light of the computer monitor contorted her face into the grimace of a ghastly wraith. 

Each of these can easily be tweaked back into the standard simile. 

The words were gouged into the wood as if a rough, brutal tiger had clawed them in. 

Her eyes were like twin pools of liquid silver, but tender and vulnerable as water was too insubstantial to convey. 

The hollow blue light of the computer monitor contorted her face into a grimace like a ghastly wraith. 

It's all about playing with the sentence so that it makes sense to omit those two generic words. Can it still be a simile without as or like? The comparison is definitely less pronounced, and without that obvious trademark, will anyone really notice the nature of your poetry? 

Of course, it is up to the writer whether they chafe at the confines of as and like. Some might enjoy the definition of such terms, and some might be daunted to deride their necessity. But for me, and others like me, a simile is more flexible, and this post is me pulling at the elasticity.