Could you please give me a summary of "Ars Poetica" by Pablo Neruda?

In "Ars Poetica" by Pablo Neruda, Neruda compares the
process of writing a poem to the process by which a carpenter fashions wood, a baker
bakes bread, and a blacksmith forges metal.  He starts off with the art of carpentry,
and goes into detail describing how a carpenter picks his wood, decides what to do with
it, then fashions it the way that he wants it.  It is a metaphor for writing poems
however, and Neruda compares shaving the wood to writing:  "from the plank come my
verses/like chips freed from the block."

The next
comparison is to being a baker; just like the carpenter (and the poet), the baker must
select their materials and create beautiful things from them.  He describes how he takes
his words and " wade[s] in, to my elbows,/kneading the glow of the oven" as he creates
his words.  He then goes on to compare writing poetry to being a blacksmith who is "a
lone iron-monger."

The point of his comparisons is that the
hard work of a carpenter, baker or blacksmith is no different than the hard work of a
poet.  Each uses their skills, materials and ingenuity to create beauty.  He goes on to
say that he doesn't limit the materials he uses for poems; he is constantly "digging for
new metals and turning what I am into words."  He addresses people that might criticize
how or what he uses for poems, and says that he does what he has found to be true to
him, without thought of its reception.

I hope that those
thoughts help to get you started; good luck!