McCartney

When Paul McCartney dies

who will be left

from my childhood

"Do you want to know a secret?"

first song I remember

I whispered those words into a friend's ear

in the playground

at St Mary's in Auchengramont Road.

There were entrances at Windmill Road

and Cadzow Street as well.

How evocative the street names

of my McCartney childhood.

She Loves You, yeah yeah yeah

played in my home seemingly endlessly

ooooh

We Yellow Submarined down in the backgarden

and learned to sing Let it Be as if it were a hymn

I bought McCartney III

his voice vulnerable

his musicality untouchable

his empathy tangible

Almost sixty years I have known this man

and learned what love is and could be

and what it is to experiment in life

and what it is to be unafraid

to write for kids and places

and just to see what it sounded like

if you did it this way

instead of that

and what it is to remain human

despite superhuman fame

and adulation

and criticism

and snide remarks

and what it is to know monarchs and geniuses

and what it is to be a genius

yet still remain soft to the touch

of a human hand