Jeanie, I know what you mean about reading play scripts, one of my favorites too. And sometimes the long detailed descriptions in novels are too much; I sort of 'tune out' of them, but also I sometimes feel it is described 'wrong.' I had not thought about your point about songs and poems being short and to the point. I suspect one factor that makes something poetic is that reversal of the idea that a picture is worth a thousand words; the right few words are the picture.
Dorothy Dunnett was a master at this. Her descriptions may not even make literal sense, but certainly convey a picture.
"A blackbird spoke a cherried sentence."
"Dawn broke with a glory that bludgeoned the senses."
"He looked like an oak tree with dimples."