$pod =~ s{
^=item \h \N*\n\n \N*\n \K # first line
(?: (?: ^=over .*? ^=back\n )? (?!=) \N*\n )*
}{\n}g; # abbreviate options
$pod =~ s{
^=item \h \N*\n\n \N*\n \K # first line
(?: (?: ^=over .*? ^=back\n )? (?!=) \N*\n )*
}{\n}g; # abbreviate options