$pod =~ s/[.,](?=\n)//g; # trailing punctuation
$pod =~ s/^=item\ \K(?=--)/____/g; # align long options
# abbreviate <variable> indicators
$pod =~ s/[.,](?=\n)//g; # trailing punctuation
$pod =~ s/^=item\ \K(?=--)/____/g; # align long options
# abbreviate <variable> indicators