TUTORIAL: 10 Steps to Build a Home

Required Materials:

• Cleaning materials to sweep away the past

• A bag of cement mixed from courage and exhaustion

• Three trucks of hollow blocks shaped from boundaries

• A doorknob that actually locks

• Soft, clean, and safe sheets

• Light of any kind, you’ll need it so much

• A closet to hold what you need to hide

• A gentle lullaby for you and your child

STEP 1: Clear the Ruins

Do not hire a mason, stand on your own—

begin by clearing the ruins you’ve known,

sweep out the shouting that shattered the dawn,

the footsteps you sensed before they were drawn.

Lift the debris carefully,

Please be as gentle as you can be.

STEP 2: Pour the Foundation

Mix cement of courage and tired bones,

add water to quiet the old, hurt’s tones.

Stir till doubt turns smooth and still,

lay it where fear once had its will–

let it dry strong as your strength refills.

STEP 3: Build the Walls

Stack the hollow blocks molded from boundaries kept,

once mocked as rude, dramatic, or wept.

Fit every edge so no rage can seep through,

no echo of threats can batter you.

STEP 4: Install the Doors

Install the door you finally choose,

a doorknob that will not swing to bruise.

Turn the knob without bracing for pain;

as opening won’t harm, closing won’t chain.

STEP 5: Transform the Master’s Room Gentle

Create the master rooms where softness survives,

where beds aren’t traps but gentle lives.

Lay sheets untouched inch by inch,

soft, clean, ready to hold a body without making it flinch.

STEP 6: Furnish the Children's Room

The child’s room next, keep the shadows small.

Line the stories across each wall,

where the monsters stay in books, between pages

not in silence, not in rages.

Let comfort be ordinary and free,

not a whispered, fearful plea.

STEP 7: Bring in the Light

Hang the light wherever darkness grew,

A glow you once believed you’d never renew,

let every bulb chase shadows away,

a proof that night no longer owns your day.

STEP 8: Assemble the Closet

Build a closet soft, not meant for blame,

a quiet corner that doesn’t shame—

a place to hide the belts, not hide from belts,

where calm and care are what the space truly welts.

STEP 9: Protect the Space

Lock the door not to shut out fright,

but to honor your claim to a home done right.

Inside, let children laugh,

let them fall, let them stumble, be tender and stand tall.

STEP 10: Let Fears Pass By

And finally, breathe deep and sleep peacefully,

for there is no angry man in this family.

Sing the lullaby of peace and safety,

rest without the fear of being shamed or hasty.