Carl Sandburg's So it's no surprise that "Fog" is meter and form-free. Overall, regardless of how simple and short Sandburg's poem is, he manages to communicate a lot with only a few lines without resorting to traditional form and meter tactics. This shows that even though modern poets may not use formal techniques, they still have the ability to touch upon serious issues in their poems. In conclusion, "Fog" is open form because neither Sandburg nor any other poet had any limitations on what they could do with this poem. They could have gone in any direction they wanted with it, including using traditional form or not at all.