I use almost no third-party modules and write largely what I call "PHP style" Perl, so mostly $variable = SomeFunction($someOtherVariable);

I've had no issues with reading my own code, and others are able to follow along as well.

I admit that, because of its poetry-enabling flexibility, in terms of readability and maintainability foot-shooting, Perl is like an AK-47 with a full clip and no safety.