Dear Christina,
I'm very taken with the notion of you pouting, screaming and stamping your
foot, but you are being disingenuous.
You know better than most that a trade must be learned to be practised,
"The lyf so short the craft so long to lerne".
Poetry's been wasted, wasted by people who think it's just prose, plus
arbitrary line breaks, minus rules of grammar. That's why people don't read
it any more.
Answering your question, I believe it's enough to master metre and rhyme;
the study of forms can be left to those with a special interest, although
personally I'm taken aback by people who haven't troubled to learn the
difference between a sonnet and a villanelle, yet think they know enough to
write and crit poetry.
The best free-versers have a fine sense of rhythm, music, built on a real
knowledge of the craft. I admire and respect them.
Best regards,
David