I wonder if there's any kind of imagery that should be "avoided," really, even those that you think have been used to death. That "dancing," for instance: just think of the way those mayflies dance in the Richard Wilbur poem! Who could wish he had avoided that? No, I think everything--even the commonest and most overused idea--will work in the hands of someone looking at it afresh, turning it over in a new way, applying it to something unexpected.
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