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The Consecrated Souls of Whitney Houston and Don Cornelius (Part 2)

6/7/2021

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(“Souls in Consecrated Flight No. 2” art by Aberjhani ©2021)
With six Grammy Award wins out of 25 nominations, plus 21 roles to her credit as an actress and 10 as a film producer, the body of Whitney Houston’s creative output speaks better than anything or anyone else on her behalf. The elegy at the bottom of this post does comprise a principle part of this commentary but to it should be added this: much has been rightfully said about the quality of Houston’s powerful voice but too little, perhaps, about how masterfully she employed it as a musical artist.

If you missed part 1 of this article please click here.
​
From her gospel-singing mother Cissy Houston, her legendary pop-diva cousin Dionne Warwick, and her Queen of Soul godmother Aretha Franklin, Houston inherited gifts for skillfully interpreting lyrics and endowing them with new depth and jeweled nuance. In less than a split second, she could switch instinctively from soprano to alto, or from contralto back down to soprano and all the notes in between like a sparrow flitting from one blossoming shrub to another. She could growl like a blues-woman on the prowl or croon barely-contained passion like a mystic singing for her God and nobody else.  

​“I Will Always Love You” was already a beautiful song as recorded by its composer, Dolly Parton, as well as by rock star Linda Ronstadt long before Houston put her indelible stamp on it.  Likewise, “The Star Spangled Banner” was already a staple of American culture. But it was Houston’s talent for original interpretation that allowed her to transform Parton’s song into powerhouse declaration of unconditional love in the face of unavoidable pain.  And that same talent allowed her to wake up an entire nation to the deeper inspired meaning of words many had previously sung with bored impatience. 

Elegy for Timeless Diva 

​The following praise poem/elegy, The Consecrated Soul of Whitney Houston, is one humble acknowledgement of the musical artist’s exceptional life, talent, and titanic legacy: 

                                 The Consecrated Soul of Whitney Houston

                                      (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012)
                                   
                                “Share my love, take me for what I am…”
                                ––Whitney Houston (from song I Have Nothing
                                 lyrics by Linda Thompson / David W. Foster)

Your greatest hit is your consecrated soul,
notes dipped in gold by the one who made you.
Your style could burn valentine-heart red,
or smolder soulfully brilliant, ingeniously blue.

Sometimes on wings of diamond soprano,
or then again on comets of billion-dollar contralto...
you flew heights profoundly sacred––
one moment adored, the next embattled.

With blood flowing from gospel’s rock of ages,
you sang the world’s fury into rose-scented grace.
Time dressed you in gowns of astonished majesty;
starlight blessed you with an angel’s glittering face.

Who among humans are equipped to judge you?
Many still squint trying to glimpse your light.
Beauty from another world gave birth to your voice––
sent to rescue scorned hearts from traumatized nights.
​
Your greatest hit is your consecrated soul,
notes dipped in gold by the one who made you.
Gently now, eternity engraves your name with hymns,
weeping ballads of love––and psalms of gratitude.                      

By Aberjhani
Author of The Black Skylark zPed Music Player
Co-author of Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance

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  • Bright Skylark Literary Productions Sitemap
  • Author Statement
    • Blog: Visionary Vibes >
      • Aberjhani - Author Biography
      • Bright Skylark News Notes
      • Blog: Cultural Arts Reviews and Remembrances
      • Blog: Sonic Delight Music Reviews >
        • Summer-Song Rhapsody for Michael Jackson: Editorial with Poem
      • Shifting Points of View and the Massacre in Charleston, South Carolina (USA) >
        • Author-Poet Aberjhani in the News
      • 7 Ways to Help Replace Legislated Fear with Informed Compassion
    • Greeting Flannery O'Connor at the Back Door of My Mind >
      • Tribute to Savannah Author Robert T.S. Mickles Sr.
    • Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah >
      • Podcast Prospects 504
      • More Books by Aberjhani >
        • Readers & Reviewers on the Writings of Aberjhani
        • Checking in at Goodreads
        • Editing Credits
        • ELEMENTAL: The Power of Illuminated Love (Art and Poetry Gift Book)
        • The River of Winged Dreams
        • The Wisdom of W.E.B. Du Bois
        • Songs from the Black Skylark zPed Music Player: A Novel by Aberjhani
        • I Made My Boy Out of Poetry
        • Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotations from a Life Made Out of Poetry
        • Buy Books by Aberjhani on Amazon
        • 10th Anniversary of Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance
  • AI Literary Chat Salon
  • Carousel of Sustainable Compassion
  • Working Scribe Carousel Number 2
    • Awards & Honors
    • My LinkedIn Portfolio Sampler
    • Pop Icon Michael Jackson in Life & Legend
    • Creative Thinkers International
  • Art and Poster Store
    • Blog: Silk-Featherbrush Art and Style
    • Postered Poetics
    • Your Introduction to Original Silk-Featherbrush Art & Style
  • Choose a Cultural Arts Heritage Project to Support
  • Working Scribe Image Carousel 2
  • About Bright Skylark Literary Productions
    • Bright Skylark Values and Motto
  • Famous Quotes of Note
    • Pinterest Page of Quotations
  • Charter for a More Compassionate World
  • As a Poet Thinketh: Poetry by Aberjhani
    • The Bridge of Silver Wings
    • Rainbow-Song for the Angel of Tao by Aberjhani
    • Ode to the Good Black Boots that Served My Soul So Well (poem by Aberjhani)
    • Angel of Remembrance: Candles for September 11, 2001
    • Rainbow-Song for the Angel of Tao: Verse 1
  • Articles and Essays
    • Abbreviated Minds in the News for Wreaking Havoc Worldwide editorial by Aberjhani
    • Iconic Authors Toni Morrison's and Harper Lee's New Works Likely to Influence Dialogues on Race
    • Red Summer: Text and Meaning in Claude McKay’s poem ‘If We Must Die’” part 1 of special 4-part series by Aberjhani
    • A Writer's Journey to Selma, Alabama
    • Justice Remains Elusive in Case of Newly-freed Louis C. Taylor (Part 1 of 2)
    • Sensualized Transcendence: Editorial and Poem on the Art of Jaanika Talts (Part 1)
    • Realms of Emerging Light (Sensualized Transcendence Editorial and Poem on the Art of Jaanika Talts Part 2)
    • Notes on the 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation
    • Why Race Mattered in Barack Obama's Re-Election: Editorial and Poem
    • Posted Perspectives on America's 2012 Presidential Election
    • 47 Percenters and Guerrilla Decontextualization: Dreamers and Nightmares
    • Considering Michael Clarke Duncan: Big Black Man Within A Nonsociopoliticohistorical Context (Editorial with Poem)
  • Video Pen & Ink
  • Links and Connections
    • Aberjhani's Guerrilla Decontextualization
  • Contact the Author
  • Working Scribe Image Carousel 2
  • Working Scribe Image Carousel 2
  • Bright Skylark LP Storefront