It was

not really an option to consider. Rather, 
a signal it was time to move on. After all, 
what does evolved mean? Even the purely 
paleological sense points to an epoch before—
a prehistory, a myth before myth—as well as 
forward to where the past becomes buried 
as archive,  as artifact. Personally, I prefer 
deepened. The river isn't the same river 
I waded into yesterday,  last month, last year.
And it's not just the waters that have deepened 
with time. I, too, hear the thrum of flux in my chest:
all day purling new channels whose reach is beyond 
understanding. Minnows dart in the shallows.  
A night heron shifts, neck retracted like a spring.