Beg ‘em, steal ‘em, or hunt ‘em down on Craigslist: Tickets to Mary Oliver’s one-night appearance in Seattle, sponsored by Seattle Arts & Lectures, sold out months ago. Tonight the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet will read from her deceptively simple, elegantly crafted conversations with the natural world. She may remind readers to “let the soft animal of your body / love what it loves…” (“Wild Geese”), or offer snippets from her newest poetry collection, Red Bird. Old or new, Oliver’s verses have been coaxing the subtle beauty of the everyday environment (be it of White Pine, West Wind, Blue Iris, or At Blackwater Pond) into plain sight since the ‘60s. It is a rare bard indeed who can make rain sound beautiful to Seattleites. Benaroya Hall, Third Avenue and Union Street, www.lectures.org. 7:30 p.m. JENNA NAND

Mon., Feb. 4, 7:30 p.m., 2008