TV

- Poetry is one of the least acclaimed art forms in San Diego. And yet its potential role is mighty. As John F. Kennedy said: “When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses . . . . “

To recognize the presence of local poets, KPBS-TV (Channel 15) has filmed 13 of them reading their works. The brief clips--three to five minutes--are appended to “Voices and Visions,” a PBS series on major U.S. poets that began Tuesday.

Poet Robert Jones reads “Afternoon” and “Tonight” at the end of the first segment on Robert Frost. The segment will be repeated at 1 p.m. Friday.

Other San Diego poets will read their works at the conclusion of programs on writers such as Langston Hughes, Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, Robert Lowell and Sylvia Plath. The San Diegans selected for the series are Deborah Harding, Terry Hertzler, Cesar Gonzalez, Janice Tolman, Hal Alexander, Steve Kowit, LoVerne Brown, Tena Kirscher, Glover Davis, Sandra Alcosser, Ruben Medina and Fran Adler.