scalewing scalawag

the dust of a moth’s or butterfly’s wing/when you look closely/is from overlapping scales/a sheddable part of the wing integument/that slightly improves wing aerodynamics

this is why moths and butterflies/are grouped under the order lepidoptera/which is greek for ‘scalewing’

now let’s jump-cut to the 1840s and the murky origin of the word ‘scalawag’

it may have been invented by some farmer in the american south/who needed a word for one of his unproductive animals

but in little time it was used to describe/disreputable men worthy of scorn

and over time took on a flavor of mischief/probably because the last syllable ‘wag’/means not only the motion of a dog’s tale/but a jokester

thus it is with language as it takes the flight of years buffeted by whim and chance

and the meanings of words flutter around/like a butterfly/with one dustless wing