Socrates Woe

[Achebe]

 
The worst of
life, Socrates said,
was the monkey
on his back,
its animal urging
never slack.
Filled with fury
it always cried,
pounding his spine,
not to be denied.

Putting a scroll down
near his linen gown
he again deferred to
the anxious beast.
After fevered motions
the animal's screaming
ceased,
heaving a grateful sigh
as its grip released.

But time has slowly
tempered that grip,
the flailing tail
now quiet to its tip.
Socrates smiles,
finally free
to spend his time
on philosophy.

At least Plato's Socrates was happy that sex was a thing of the past. 'The flailing tail' is clever, as is the whole of S2. 
While this is a delightful  little light hearted poem, I'm not sure how you'd like to workshop it. It doesn't have (nor is the intention for it to have) enough meat for a line by line read ,in my view.
But thanks for sharing.