I recently had one poem accepted out of a batch of three. It wasn’t the strongest poem and I felt a little odd. On reading the published journal, I found it fit in just fine. The editors acknowledge in their introduction that as a issue comes together, a theme emerges. And only one of mine fit the emerging theme. The stronger poem, if in fact it is stronger, will find a place somewhere else.
“Grey Brother” is a poem I wrote 25 years ago. It needed very little editing. Feedback in readings was very positive. I submitted it 9 times before it was accepted. That’s my personal most submissions. It is good company where it was published. Strong poems may be hard to place because of their strength.