The Guilt and Monstrosity of Luigi Mangione
by Michael Doyle

News wars say if it bleeds, it leads
In this nation of monstrous misdeeds,
It is really not all that deep,
To focus on murder and death is cheap.

It's become symptomatic of modern society,
To focus our fanfare on fanciful brutality.
Don't name the dead in your thanatology, 
Say the prophets of modern sociology.

Luigi Mangione laughs as he pleads not guilty
In his indictment of the healthcare industry.
The unrepentant murderer's action against greed
Has been lionized into some sort of noble deed.

The mean world syndrome presses the anxiety
Of those tired of life's seeming complexity.
The media takes a bow in shaping our attitude,
As it hardens hearts and removes all gratitude.

He is no Robin Hood, regardless of the system's flaws.
Murder by number does not reform any needed laws.
Social media has provided a halo effect to a criminal
Who in his murdering has surpassed wrong into purely evil.

Luigi Mangione laughed as he pled he was not guilty
In his over-the-top indictment of the healthcare industry.
The unrepentant killer was action not just against greed
And it cannot be lionized into some sort of noble deed.

"Deny, defend, depose" may have caused innocent death,
But you cannot defend a murder with the same breath.
It is a societal vandalism that frays the norms of society.
It is a pop culture spectacle based on social anxiety.

A living, breathing meme exceeding its substantive meaning,
The absurdity only demeans the worth of actual human beings.
Idolizing this punk is only a symptom of the social nihilism
That has erupted to replace our world's hope and optimism.

Luigi Mangione laughs as he mocks us that he is not guilty
In his over-the-top indictment of the healthcare industry.
This unrepentant killer sought fame and did so with greed
This action cannot be lionized into some sort of noble deed.

Trivializing Mangione's crime turns murder into a commodity.
I cannot be alone in believing this is more than odd to me.
We do not resolve inequities through acts of sheer violence.
This is true regardless of real or pretended coincidence. 

The adoration of a murderer will not bring about our salvation.
But it might lower the standards needed in our good nation.
Disillusionment does not justify America losing it's way.
Instead, we must think together about finding our better day.

Luigi Mangione might laugh but he is surely guilty
It is just to indict the wrongs of the healthcare industry.
But an unremorseful murderer's actions, it must be agreed,
Cannot be lionized into any sort of good or noble deed.

(c) May 7, 2025   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved