Fifi

Did a lovely flower wither on the vine?
Obliterated by the sands of time.
Or did this lovely flower wilt in the shade
Or metamorphosis into an unhappy old maid?
When her young beauty began to fade
Did the lonely years ahead make her afraid?

I remember you so young and pretty
Trembling with fear in a bombed out city.
I still see the cellar where you tried to hide
A terrible battle going on outside.
Where hundreds of innocent people died.
And in this hell your soul was tried.

We can say that we really met in hell
When I pulled you out of that burned out shell.
And found a young girl covered with dirt
You were more scared than you were hurt.
And in matters of love,I'm sure no expert
But I really think you were trying to flirt.

In battle should you get pinned down
I'ts always nice to have a girl around.
We sat and watched the shells burst overhead
While artillery fire turned the clouds to red.
When I tried to calm the young girls dred
It was she who comforted me instead.

The next day when the battle calmed down
And we stood up and looked around.
Nothing but destruction met our gaze
The whole of the city had been ablaze.
Now all you could see was a smokey haze
A sight to remember all your days.

When I made my way back to our lines
She followed me one step behind.
She was one French girl no one could sway
And with the American she was going to stay.
She was free French and there would be hell to pay
If the Cap't didnt get out of her way.

And since the F.F.I.was fighting on our side
The Cap't gave up and let it ride.
Where she came from I never knew
She was an underground fighter this was true.
We just called her Fifi La Rue
In French it means a girl of the avenue.

Fifi was a good person to have around
She knew where the best booze could be found.
She may have been a lady of the night
But she didnt run from a fight.
She could be nice and sweet and very polite
Then flare up at the smallest slight.

We knew when we went back on the line
Fifi would have to stay behind.
But French girls know their place in life
And she would sure make some lucky guy a fine wife.
But I bet she could fill you full of strife
If you didnt dance when she played the fife.

Then came the time to pack up and move out
Time to go again and face the Kraut.
We just left Fifi standing in the rain
And I knew we would never meet again.
And someplace on the banks of the river Seine
There stood a girl with her heart full of pain.

As I look back across these many years
I still see a girl holding back her tears.
There are monuments to men who fight in war
Marble crosses that line up away too far.
But how about the ones who's hearts carry a scar?
Their names too should wear a star.

An old man lives with his memories
And God knows I have plenty of these.
When you grow old and life begins to wane
Sometimes your heart fills with pain
When you look back and see again
A young girl crying in the rain.
~Elmer Ake~