'Boston Sonnet' by Emmanuel Oppong-Yeboah

Boston Sonnet

The town of Boston, Lincolnshire, from which Boston derives its name was originally Botolphston (from "Botolph's stone" or "Botolph's town"), after the saint, Botolph of Tarney. 

I’ve been seeing Boston a lot in the news lately, so much so 

I’ve even mistaken someone else's Boston for my own

Boston, Kentucky, is not where my life’s been built, but I wouldn’t be the first

to see in the face of a new place, an older more familiar home 

which Boston, Kentucky’s or Massachusetts's, most closely resembles Lincolnshire's 

which Boston, anywhere, most closely resembles the stone of a saint 

there are other Bostons even in this one: Roxbury, South End, 

North End, Mattapan, West Roxbury, Dorchester, Chinatown

I could sing them each by name; sing the people, communities

who’ve walked these streets, and those disappeared

Saint Botolph is the patron saint of boundaries, and where

o’ where shall we draw the line? Famously, we’ve fought wars

for freedom. Whom are we called to call our neighbor?

how o’ how far does our love for Boston extend?