Four Nose Jobs a Day: Poems

"Banhart approaches somber themes with whimsy... his work expounds on a crucial tenet of queerness: liberation in lightness and in unabashed optimism. Funny and enduringly weird. " —PITCHFORK

Like Devendra Banhart’s music and visual art, his poetry appears at the convergence of humor and sorrow, tragedy and joy. 

With Four Nose Jobs A Day, Banhart’s second collection, the poet explores matters of the heart and soul through an absurdist lens both sly and compassionate. As the opening lines of the collection alert us, Banhart loves “a Love Poem/One that reads/Like Blackberries/On a wooden cup”. With iconoclastic verve, Banhart builds small, often silly paths of poetic language that lead to meaningful conclusions: “Poetry is when/the dead end/Starts to go somewhere” 

Like professional musicians constantly on tour, Banhart reminds us that we, the readers, have countless places to visit both in the world around us, and inside ourselves—whether these places resonate and register is up to us, not the places. The poems of Four Nose Jobs A Day break the surface of reality, small bubbles of insight. Sometimes there is laughter in the face of absurdity; consolation for grief or despair; and sometimes there is simply gratitude. “What an Honor,” the poet reminds us, “To have emotions/Any of them.”

Devendra Banhart (b. 1980, Houston, Texas) lives and works in Los Angeles. He was born Devendra Obi Banhart in Houston, Texas, but spent his childhood in Caracas, Venezuela; as a teenager, his family returned to the States, relocating in Southern California. An internationally renowned musician, songwriter, and visual artist considered a pioneer of the “freak folk” and “New Weird America” movements, Banhart has toured, performed, and collaborated with Vashti Bunyan, Yoko Ono, Os Mutantes, the Swans, ANOHNI, Caetano Veloso, and Beck, amongst many others. His musical work has always existed symbiotically alongside his pursuits in the other fine arts. He has released 12 full length albums, been nominated for a Grammy, has released one book of poetry with Featherproof Press. His visual art has been presented across some of the most respected museums and galleries around the world. Exhibitions include Offering Cloud of Scattered Genitalia, Serralves Museum, Porto, PT; The Grief I Have Caused You, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, Ca (2022); Other Flowers, Hauser and Wirth, Los Angeles, Ca (2019); Voglio proprio vedere, Mazzoli, Modena, Italy (2017); Sphinx Interiors & Other Works, Mazzoli, Modena, Italy (2014, solo); Abstract Rhythms: Paul Klee and Devendra Banhart, SFMoMA, San Francisco (2007–2008); Music is a Better Noise, MoMA PS1, Queens, New York (2007); and Devendra Banhart, Mazzoli, Modena, Italy (2006, solo). His monograph of drawings and paintings I Left My Noodle on Ramen Street (2015, Prestel) features essays by Jeffrey Deitch and Beck.