Garden Gnomes

Did I wake myself up?
Can a person do that?
Or is it the world,
always stranger than we think,
sending us small, startling thoughts?
The thoughts are shaped like benevolent gnomes
the kind you see in gardens
peering up at you
with their red or blue caps
holding a lantern or a basket of flowers.
Maybe they wait in the yards,
one or two per neighborhood
ready for the next person
who wants to wake up
and see the world fresh.