Prince Albert
Had I been a little bit earlier that mornin'
maybe I coulda seen him a-comin’
‘round the ridge o' Green Valley Mountain.
That way I might-a been able
ta spend a lit’l more time
with that skinny ol’ feller.
Yeah he be a skinny one all right.
Ye might say he be skinny like a rail.
That’s how people used to talk about bein’ skinny.
By the time I catch up with him
he clean down ta the foot
o’ Green Valley Mountain.
I stop my car ‘n’ he be halfway in
‘fore I can ask iff’n he wants ta ride.
We both laugh ‘n’ I tell him ta come on in.
What with the mornin’ dew ‘n’ humidity
mixed with that ol’ man’s sweat
it give off a different sort o’ smell—
the smell of a special time ‘n’ place—
a time ‘n’ place I reckon ain’t no more.
Right away he takes out a lit'l white paper
‘n’ a can o’ Prince Albert Tabacker
then sets out ta roll his own smoke.
He piles the tabacker on the paper way up in a heap.
By the time he ready ta smoke it be skinny like him.
Poor ol’ feller pulls out his Zippo ta light his smoke.
He’s so shaky he can’t hold that Zippo still.
So I have ta stop ‘n’ light it fer him.
Next mornin’ I stop ta pick him up again
‘cause he be on his way for another can o’ P. A.
People around here they all say
he do this same thang ever day o’ the week.
They say he do it on Saturday too.
©️Copyright 2025 By David Lee Thompson
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You missed a couple of gems though: "Down the road a fur piece." and "Green Mountain? Yew cain't get thar from heah."
When we were kids, corn cob pipes were the big thing. But one of the favorite things to do was to either call the local corner store or we go in the store and ask the person who answers or who is at the counter…"Do you have Prince Albert in a can?"
Typically the store clerk or owner would answer, "We do sonny, but aren't you a bit young to be smokin'?"
"Well, let him out!" And then, hang up quick or run out of the store, never to come back in again.
Ron