<\/p>
At the \u201cEgmond Circle,\u201d Giselle Cole deeply moved many people with Simone Ilgn\u00ader\u2019s poem \u201cThey Never Asked Me.\u201d It tells of the expe\u00adri\u00adences of those affected by Conter\u00adgan, of prej\u00adu\u00addices and resis\u00adtance, but also of strength, self-determination, and soli\u00addar\u00adity across national borders. At the same time, it remem\u00adbers those who are no longer with us.<\/p>\n
After the presen\u00adta\u00adtion, many expressed the wish to be able to read the poem again. There\u00adfore, we are publish\u00ading it here in its English orig\u00adi\u00adnal and German translation.<\/p>\n
The poem was created based on Simone Ilgn\u00ader\u2019s personal memo\u00adries, thoughts, and expe\u00adri\u00adences, with the support of Chat\u00adGPT (AI by OpenAI).<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> ENGLISH ORIGINAL<\/strong><\/p>\n Simone Ilgner<\/strong><\/p>\n They never asked me, never warned my Mum, I was born amid head\u00adlines, whis\u00adpers, and stares, Doctors listed limits as if they knew who I would be, So we learned. They called us \u201cvictims.\u201d We don\u2019t want pity. We\u2019re not here for your sorrow. We were scat\u00adtered across coun\u00adtries, oceans apart, From Canada to Germany, Japan to the UK, We\u2019re not just indi\u00advid\u00adu\u00adals \u2014 we\u2019re a world\u00adwide family, We\u2019re a world\u00adwide family, bonded in the rarest way, We feel every loss \u2014 it echoes in our chest, Names turn into memo\u00adries, faces into air, This poem was created by Simone with the assis\u00adtance of Chat\u00adGPT (AI by OpenAI), based on her own memo\u00adries, personal reflec\u00adtions and lived experience.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div> *******************************<\/p>\n GERMAN TRANSLATION<\/strong><\/p>\n Simone Ilgner<\/strong><\/p>\n They never asked me, never warned my Mum, I was born amid head\u00adlines, whis\u00adpers, and stares, Doctors listed limits as if they knew who I would be, So we learned. They called us \u201cvictims.\u201d We don\u2019t want pity. We\u2019re not here for your sorrow. We were scat\u00adtered across coun\u00adtries, oceans apart, From Canada to Germany, Japan to the UK, We\u2019re not just indi\u00advid\u00adu\u00adals \u2014 we\u2019re a world\u00adwide family, We\u2019re a world\u00adwide family, bonded in the rarest way, We feel every loss \u2014 it echoes in our chest, Names turn into memo\u00adries, faces into air, This poem was created based on Simone\u2019s own memo\u00adries, thoughts, and life expe\u00adri\u00adences with the assis\u00adtance of Chat\u00adGPT (AI by OpenAI). It was trans\u00adlated from English into German with the help of ChatGPT.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A poem about the shared history of people affected by Conter\u00adgan, by Simone Ilgner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14813,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[190],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-takeaways"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/egmond-circle.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/egmond-circle.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/egmond-circle.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egmond-circle.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egmond-circle.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14812"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/egmond-circle.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15440,"href":"https:\/\/egmond-circle.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14812\/revisions\/15440"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egmond-circle.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/egmond-circle.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egmond-circle.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egmond-circle.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}They Never Asked Me<\/h3>\n
\nA tiny pill in her hand \u2014 Thalido\u00admide \u2014 harm\u00adless, they\u2019d hum.
\n\u201cHelps with sick\u00adness, helps you sleep, noth\u00ading more,\u201d
\nBut beneath that calm, the storm was wait\u00ading at the door..<\/p>\n
\nPeople count\u00ading what was miss\u00ading instead of notic\u00ading what was there.
\nShort arms, three fingers, no thumbs on each side -
\nThey measured my body, but they never measured my pride.<\/p>\n
\nWhile my Mum saw a spark only she could see.
\nDad said \u201cShe\u2019ll never do this,\u201d writ\u00ading fears like a list,
\nMum said, \u201cShe\u2019s got a finger for a wedding ring \u2014 don\u2019t dismiss.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nNot the way others learn \u2014 our own way.
\nTurned what they called disabil\u00adity into strength every day.
\nJobs, marriages, chil\u00addren \u2014 yeah, we fought every fight,
\nEvery small victory felt like reclaim\u00ading our right.<\/p>\n
\nBut we refuse that name.
\nWe\u2019re survivors, chal\u00adlengers \u2014 you will remem\u00adber our flame.
\nThey saw what we didn\u2019t have and called it a flaw,
\nEvery \u201ccan\u2019t\u201d became a win that left them wide-eyed in awe.<\/p>\n
\nWe want respect \u2014 hard-earned, not borrowed.
\nThey tried to define our future with clin\u00adi\u00adcal doubt,
\nBut how we have lived our lives drowns that noise out.<\/p>\n
\nDiffer\u00adent languages spoken, but the same fire in our heart.
\nSame story, same strug\u00adgle, same silent fight \u2014
\nBorn into battles we never chose, yet we rose to the light.<\/p>\n
\nWe found one another and built some\u00adthing they can\u2019t take away.
\nWe don\u2019t share blood \u2014 we share courage, shared scars,
\nA global constel\u00adla\u00adtion \u2014 survivors shaped like stars.<\/p>\n
\nLinked by resilience, bonded through tragedy.
\nThey measured our limbs, but they never knew our worth -
\nWe\u2019re proof of strength on every corner of Earth.<\/p>\n
\nBut time keeps moving, and it takes our own away.
\nWe\u2019ve shared laughs, shared battles, shared every scar,
\nNow we\u2019re light\u00ading candles for the ones who\u2019ve gone too far.<\/p>\n
\nBecause each one leav\u00ading takes a piece of all the rest.
\nWe were warriors from birth, we were never meant to hide,
\nBut even warriors grow tired from the moun\u00adtains we\u2019ve climbed.<\/p>\n
\nAnd we honour them in stories, in the courage that we share.
\nWe hold on to each other \u2014 this family, worldwide -
\nBecause every good\u00adbye reminds us how precious it is to still be alive.<\/p>\nThey Never Asked Me<\/h3>\n
\nA tiny pill in her hand \u2014 Thalido\u00admide \u2014 harm\u00adless, they\u2019d hum.
\n\u201cHelps with sick\u00adness, helps you sleep, noth\u00ading more,\u201d
\nBut beneath that calm, the storm was wait\u00ading at the door..<\/p>\n
\nPeople count\u00ading what was miss\u00ading instead of notic\u00ading what was there.
\nShort arms, three fingers, no thumbs on each side -
\nThey measured my body, but they never measured my pride.<\/p>\n
\nWhile my Mum saw a spark only she could see.
\nDad said \u201cShe\u2019ll never do this,\u201d writ\u00ading fears like a list,
\nMum said, \u201cShe\u2019s got a finger for a wedding ring \u2014 don\u2019t dismiss.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nNot the way others learn \u2014 our own way.
\nTurned what they called disabil\u00adity into strength every day.
\nJobs, marriages, chil\u00addren \u2014 yeah, we fought every fight,
\nEvery small victory felt like reclaim\u00ading our right.<\/p>\n
\nBut we refuse that name.
\nWe\u2019re survivors, chal\u00adlengers \u2014 you will remem\u00adber our flame.
\nThey saw what we didn\u2019t have and called it a flaw,
\nEvery \u201ccan\u2019t\u201d became a win that left them wide-eyed in awe.<\/p>\n
\nWe want respect \u2014 hard-earned, not borrowed.
\nThey tried to define our future with clin\u00adi\u00adcal doubt,
\nBut how we have lived our lives drowns that noise out.<\/p>\n
\nDiffer\u00adent languages spoken, but the same fire in our heart.
\nSame story, same strug\u00adgle, same silent fight \u2014
\nBorn into battles we never chose, yet we rose to the light.<\/p>\n
\nWe found one another and built some\u00adthing they can\u2019t take away.
\nWe don\u2019t share blood \u2014 we share courage, shared scars,
\nA global constel\u00adla\u00adtion \u2014 survivors shaped like stars.<\/p>\n
\nLinked by resilience, bonded through tragedy.
\nThey measured our limbs, but they never knew our worth -
\nWe\u2019re proof of strength on every corner of Earth.<\/p>\n
\nBut time keeps moving, and it takes our own away.
\nWe\u2019ve shared laughs, shared battles, shared every scar,
\nNow we\u2019re light\u00ading candles for the ones who\u2019ve gone too far.<\/p>\n
\nBecause each one leav\u00ading takes a piece of all the rest.
\nWe were warriors from birth, we were never meant to hide,
\nBut even warriors grow tired from the moun\u00adtains we\u2019ve climbed.<\/p>\n
\nAnd we honour them in stories, in the courage that we share.
\nWe hold on to each other \u2014 this family, worldwide -
\nBecause every good\u00adbye reminds us how precious it is to still be alive.<\/p>\n