It takes decades for an oak to reach maturity
And only a few minutes to reduce it to ash
Once the flame is applied
Grains of sand have lined the shores of continents
For centuries
But how quickly they can be transformed into glass
Once the flame is applied

And so it is with a man
Who after weeks or months or years of isolation
Both among crowds and alone
Finds another like him

A change occurs and he discovers the proof
Of his own existence
That he is more than
The sum of his parts, his dreams
And the time it took to get there

He is forever changed
Once the flame is applied

And like the oak, chopped into tinder
And placed on the pyre
The mound of sand heated to melting, reshaped
And shined
So too is he unable to ever again become
That which he was before

Assuming he would even want to.