HE'S one of the world's most successful song writers - and one of the richest men on the planet. Yet when Paul McCartney returned to his Liverpool home yesterday, he chatted to fans in the same way you would pass the time of day with whoever you sat by on the 82 bus to Speke - a route he used to travel. One old dear was slightly crushed in the crowd that gathered on Church Street to catch a glimpse of Sir Paul yesterday afternoon. She was taken inside WH Smith where he had been signing copies of his new book, Blackbird Singing, to take the weight off her feet - and once the autograph signing was out of the way, Sir Paul took a moment to make sure the lady was alright. But it was after Sir Paul had finished meeting "his public" that he agreed to be interviewed by me in an empty WHSmith on Church Street. We talked as grown men pressed their noses against the window, wondering why their hero was giving me so much time. And Macca might have been wondering the same after my first question: "Why he doesn't pack it all in, quit while he's way ahead, sit back and chill out?" "Would you?" he replied. Well, with a bank balance like his, of course I would. Paul thinks otherwise. "I've millions of ambitions left," said Paul, who at 58, still manages to look very, very cool in his dark suit and pair of trainers. "There are a lot of things I like, it's not like there are still a lot of things I want to do, but I do like doing things. "Hence the poetry, music, painting, classical music. I like to do a lot of things." One of those 'things' is farming so he adds: "Touch wood my sheep are doing OK with the old foot and mouth, but you never know though." TO make his poetry debut, Paul had offers from all over the world. The Shakespeare Library in Washington DC, LA Times Book Review and London's Royal Theatre all wanted him at their prestigious events. But he turned them all down to come back home to read to a small audience at Liverpool's Everyman Theatre last night - exactly 40 years after a young Macca made his night time debut with the Beatles on stage at the Cavern. "I picked Liverpool because it is a lovely place," he said. "It just seemed like the right place, I've done a few poems about Liverpool and stuff and I just love it. "Liverpool," he added, "means everything to me. I grew up here, I love coming back, just driving around the old haunts, looking at the buses, the 82." Paul returns to the city often - he brought his late wife Linda to the city and has since brought his new love Heather Mills. He's also made a number of artistic debuts here - most notably his Oratorio, which premiered in Liverpool Cathedral in 1992. But last night, it was the poetry that mattered most - despite the fact that some critics have already knocked the multi-millionaire. That, however, is something he seems not in the slightest bit bothered about. He said: "Critics' response is always mixed with me, they always sharpen their pencils when they see me coming. I don't care. "They criticised Sgt Pepper and that did alright." Writing poetry was something he used as 'a kind of therapy' to help come to terms with his wife's death. Indeed, about 20 pages of Blackbird Singing are devoted to Linda - and speak volumes to anyone who has experienced the solitary confinement that follows the loss of a soulmate. "I just wanted to get my feelings out on to the page," said Paul. "It's like a kind of therapy I think. They just came, they just arrived, it's the way I felt. "So I thought I would write them down and it helps you get through it I think. I don't really have a favourite; I love all my poems. Each day I have a different favourite." Fr the first time in years, Sir Paul appeared on stage last night as the new kid on the block. A novice among great local poets such as Adrian Mitchell and Willy Russell. "The other Merseybeat poets are better than I am," he admitted. "I've only just started and they have been going for years." "Last night I was naked, I'm used to sticking a guitar in front of me, it's like a weapon." Poetry, however, is not the exclusive passion in Paul's life at the moment. He is working on a new album which should be finished in the summer. "I've been to Los Angeles for the last few weeks working on a new album, I probably finish it in June," he added. "It's fabulous. "I love what I do, I'm very lucky you know, I get paid for what I love to do." More than four thousand people brought Church Street to a standstill yesterday and tickets for last night's reading were like gold. He is still a man with a massive pull. "They still bother coming along and when you get with them each one of them is a cool individual. So I don't mind doing it at all." | 
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