my $text = <<'END'; Name: Alice Allison Age: 23 Occupation: Spy Name: Bob Barkely Age: 45 Occupation: Fry Cook Name: Carol Carson Age: 44 Occupation: Manager Name: Prince Age: 53 Occupation: World Class Musician END my %age_for; while ( $text =~ mg ) { $age_for{$1} = $2; } print Dumper(\%age_for);