Cliched start in a poem -- continue working (4,4,1,4)
I believe the answer is:
once upon a time
'cliched start' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot tell whether it can be defined by this definition.
'a poem continue working' is the wordplay.
'working' indicates an anagram.
'a'+'poem'+'continue'='apoemcontinue'
'apoemcontinue' with letters rearranged gives 'ONCE UPON A TIME'.
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for once upon a time that I've seen before include "Start of a fairytale" , "Traditional start of a story" , "Formerly" , "Long ago" , "How to start of a children's story?" .)