You're not alone :) see Re^5: POD translation to HTML bug? (pod2html Pod::Html 1.11) pod likes the whitespace , it needs the whitespace, the whitespace isn't optional, because

=item * item title
still item title
and still item title
and still item title
and still item title
and still item title

NOW CONTENTS FOR THIS item title no longer item title
still contents

=cut
[download]

Is like equivalent to

=item * item title still item title and still item title and still ite
+m title and still item title and still item title

NOW CONTENTS FOR THIS item title no longer item title still contents

=cut
[download]

in pod whitespace seperates paragraphs, commands (like =item * title) from content