THE WISEST OF GIFTS

This narrative poem is my second O. Henry short story to be converted to a poetic format while maintaining close attention to story plot details. The inspiration for "The Wisest of Gifts" is arguably O. Henry's most famous story entitled "The Gift of the Magi." It, as well, is arguably the most renowned of all Christmas short stories in all of American literature.

Lovely Della and her dear husband James, known to us as Jim, live frugally in New York City at the turn of the Twentieth Century. It is Christmas eve, and Della has tears as she looks at her image in the mirror. She has vowed to herself to buy Jim a nice Christmas present, but all she has been able to save is a mere $1.87, little money for a nice gift even 120 years ago. As her tears cascade her cheeks, while staring at her face in the mirror, a thought strikes her, a very dramatic thought that would lead to one of the dearest acts of love that a woman could offer her mate. What did that mirrored reflection suggest to her? How did this set off a chain of events that showed a couple's deepest caring for each other?

The Magi were the Three Wise Men who traveled east to offer gifts to the newborn Jesus. It may be said that they "invented" the art of gift-giving, though surely gifts had been bestowed in some manner before then. The Magi were gift-givers from Biblical days. This narrative poem relates "The Wisest of Gifts" from the era of the modern day (circa 1900). As this is an O. Henry story, expect the unexpected. Can you determine what the surprise(s) will be before they unfold as I have related them in the poem?