I'm not really a traditionally visual person, I suppose. I don't "think" in words most of the time either. I think I am more of a "feeling person". I credit this to all my writing teachers who said "Show, don't tell." Of course, this rule is subjective. There are times when it is better to tell, but most poetry is about showing.

If you say the word "sand", for instance:

I will feel
the grains of the sand,
the wetness or the dryness of it,
the way it moves, the way it tastes,
the way it touches other things,
the way it sticks,
the impression it leaves
the way the color of it makes me feel
the way the shape of it makes me feel
the way the word is "colored" --does it have double meanings or connotations? What do others associate with this word?
how does the word sound? If it was a musical note, what note would it be? Flat? Sharp? The harmony? The base? What is the music of the poem?
any analogy between the word and other things...

I'll have a flash of the image in my mind, and I may see something very vividly, but I don't attempt to be describe object in my mind, I attempt to describe the way that I feel about that object. I don't do it deliberately, really. It just is the way I think. The words and the images just start pulling from my mind, like they are coming from some otherworldly place, and they are ready for me to arrange.

http://worthwatering.blogspot.com
Can it be I stayed away too long?/
Did I leave your mind when I was gone?/
It's not my thing trying to get back/
But this time let me tell you where I'm at-- Jackson Five