If by minor poets you include Ted Hughes, Dylan Thomas, Phillip Larkin, R.S. Thomas, Coleridge, Tony Harrison, Byron et al, there certainly is no shame in being minor. I do hope that by your comment 'There's no shame in being minor. Most poets are' you were referring to the published titans. And not the feeble angst-ridden or ersatz abstract rubbish that floods the internet (and occasionally the literary publicationa).

I can enjoy such contemporary poets as Armitage, but I do feel a lack of passion in most modern poetry (there is a lot of imagery to be found, but without emotional weight if feels too withdrawn, lifeless).

'Pushing the boundaries' is a phrase I have often seen and heard to describe a lot of modern culture - if you ignore all the tools of your craft, what are you pushing the boundaries of?
I will use a rather weak example - being a jazz and blues fanatic - Louis Armstrong pushed the boundaries of 1920s jazz still working within a form, as did Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane later. Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin seriously bushed the boundaries of blues, but the form was still evident. But those experimental periods of Davis and Coltrane, Ornette Coleman (free jazz!) that work does not resonate today anything like their earlier work when they pushed a formal structure.
Surely the poet who can still work within a form and yet make it fresh is truly pushing boundaries. And I certainly am not sneering at free verse (I respect anyone who can write free verse that is undeniably poetry, I think it particularly difficult).
Much to think on in this thread, and am interested in any other thoughts.
Cheers