Simple Question

To this day I don't know how electrons know when an open switch is closed,
thus allowing them to complete their light-speed circuits.
I asked in elementary and junior high school,
but was mostly answered by shrugs,
or an occasional condescending smirk and, "They just know."
They might just know, but I don't.
In high school I asked this question once or twice,
but from then on I simply nodded my head.
In college asking that question was beyond question.
That electrons know was a given.
Textbooks gave me equations I only half understood.
Are electrons like rising water pressing hard against a dam
until there's the slightest breach?
Or are electrons always trying leaps of faith,
until their faith is answered.?
Somewhere in my cerebral circuitry,
somewhere in my meshwork of synaptic gaps
that childhood open switch still nags me with its openness.

Richard Fein

Throughout his secondary school career, Richard Fein (Bardofbyte@aol.com) was on a first name basis with the dean of discipline.