Mayhew's Handy Free No Residency MFA Hints

The phrase "for [unit of time in the plural]" is a poetic cliché left over from the 70s period style, especially if it is set aside as its own line:

"for hours"
"for days"
"for years"
"for weeks"

or if it is supposed to convey a poignant, plaintive sense of the passage of time. "I stared out the window / for months"

or if it is something that cannot logically be done for that length of time "I stayed in the bathtub / for years." "For decades I searched the house..." "For centuries I washed my back." Friends don't let friends write "for days" in this particular way.

Jorie Graham: "For days they have been crossing. We live beneath these geese."

If you don't recognize this, you haven't been paying attention / for decades.

This is the kind of thing you have to have a separate MFA program just to UNLEARN. My free of charge, no residence MFA program is open for business. Watch for other helpful hints.