I’ve talked to several writers of multiple genres who have said that they love poetry more than anything, but since they can’t make any money writing poetry they write other stuff to make their living. Is that good?
All I can say is, it can’t be bad. I personally think that writing poetry will strengthen one’s writing in anything else you do. Whether you write fiction, creative nonfiction, prose nonfiction, business writing, or recipes, poetry has a tendency to hone your skills. Among the benefits that other genre writers can gain from writing poetry are:
- An ear for the music of language
- An eye for linguistic detail
- More sensitivity to word choices
- Brevity
- Patience
To be sure, there are major differences between writing poetry and prose. But poetry can make your prose better. Writing prose, however, rarely improves your poetry – so be careful! 
Even if you don’t write poetry with a serious mind to publish, you can use poetry as writing exercises to get the juices flowing, help you focus your thoughts before you begin writing, and increase your sensitivity to the nuance of language.
Some of the best prose writers that I’ve read honed their writing skills writing poetry. Poetry teaches you how to say a lot in just a few words. And if you can master the art of poetry, I’m convinced that you can master the art of any writing. Poetry truly is the king of literary arts.
I agree with you in principle although I didn’t turn to prose to make money. I began writing prose and indeed plays because of the limitations of my poetry. There were things I needed to say that I couldn’t fit into the kind of poetry I write. That said, I still regard myself as a poet who has branched out and I do think I’m a better writer in general because I spent so many years developing my poetry (twenty years in fact) before I even attempted to write prose. This is not to say that prose is easier than poetry. It brings its own challenges.