The Power Of Words -- `Face To Face' Nerissa Diaz, Age 10 -- The Very First Time I Went To The Fountain To Get A Drink Somebody Pushed Me In The Back. The Water Went Up My Nose. I Cried A Little Bit And Ran To The Office To Tell The Principal Who Was Not There. I Found A Teacher And He Told The Boy Not To Push Me Again. Lunch Recess The Boy Pushed Me In The Play Court. It Scared Me. I Looked At Him In The Face And I Said My Name Is Nerissa Don't Push Me I Want To Be Your Friend. -- `When I Die' Elis Miranda, 11 -- When I Die My Dry Black Hair Will Not Fly Like A Flock In The Wind When I Die My Eyes Won't See The Ones I Love When I Die I Won't Hear As Before The Birds In Their Voices When I Die I Will Remember The Aroma Of The Sea When I Die My Tongue Won't Taste The Strawberry's Flesh, Juice Or Seed When I Die Place My Hands On My Heart When I Die My Feet Will Take Me To Both Sides Of The Rio Grande.

Roy Wilson has discovered a key to unlocking the mind: poetry. As director of the Department of Community Outreach and International Relations for El Centro de la Raza, a Chicano-Latino service agency, he brought back an idea from Nicaragua that seemed to do mighty things.

Last fall, he started the first Hope for Youth Poetry Workshop at El Centro, 2524 16th Ave. S., and already parents, teachers and staff are noticing the change.

"Three students went from D's to B's," Wilson said. "They realized they could do it." Wilson emphasizes how poetry seems to empower individuals, giving them the ability to express their thoughts and feelings..

A fitting tribute to a successful program, the selected works from the first workshop have been compiled in a 112-page book called "Word Up!"

On Oct. 6, the Hope for Youth Poetry Workshops will start its second set of quarterly classes. For more information, contact El Centro at (206) 329-2974.