Kenneth Pobo

Myself Starring in Bergman’s Cries and Whispers

He didn’t cast me but I appeared
anyway. I play a secret sister
named Agnetha. Barely photographed,
I get none of Nykvist’s loving closeups.
I slide in the background, polish silverware,

dust clocks, hum. Ingmar can’t
understand why I keep interfering
with his shots. Get him out of here,
he says, but no one sees me—bulbous
Swedish dresses disguise me and

my beard looks like a veil. Credits
don’t list me, but the Academy notes
my performance. I’m nominated
in Best Invisible Actor Or Actress
in a Foreign Film. Ingmar returns to Faro,

Liv returns to America to choose
her next project, and I return
to the Acme, drop six grapefruits
in my basket, then speed home
to read fan mail that never comes.

Kenneth Pobo © 2009