Salem Poetry Project featuring Martin Doerfler

Martin Doerfler was born in Silverton Oregon in 1940 and has lived in the Beaver State most of his life. When he was very young his folks moved the family to Alfalfa which was then, and is now, a crossroads with a store surrounded by farms and ranches about 17 miles east of Bend. When Doerfler wrote THE BALLAD OF THE ALFALFA KID, he was sometimes mistaken for a cowboy poet, and the poem is about a cowboy, but he is not a cowboy poet. Horses and Doerfler just don’t get along. Motorcycles on the other hand, get along fine. In Alfalfa Doerfler went to school in a one room schoolhouse with eight grades and lived in a house with outdoor plumbing. He’s not sure if that’s anything to be proud of but he is and never stopped talking about it. After Alfalfa they moved back to the Willamette Valley, Doerfler graduated high school, joined the Air Force just in time to miss Viet Nam and met his wife at a USO dance. They were together for 61: years until she passed from cancer in 2024. Doerfler was a radio broadcaster for twenty-five years, newspaper employee after that and always since age 12; a motorcycle rider, racer (Bonneville speed record in 2008) and mechanic. At age 86, Doerfler is incredibly lucky to still be able to kick start his 1970 Triumph and ride to breakfast with (younger) buddies on Saturday mornings. And like his childhood in Alfalfa, he never stops talking about it.

The Salem Poetry Project continues at the Bush Barn Annex, 600 Mission St SE, Salem. Parking for the Bush Barn and Bush House is located off of High Street and the Annex entrance is just to the left of the main entrance. Each week will present a featured reader followed by the Infamous Open Mic: 3 poems or five minutes whichever is first. Featured reader begins at 7:00 and the open mic will directly follow. For more information contact Marc Janssen at [email protected].