Compare jeffa's code with the LWP equivalent:

#!/usr/bin/perl -w

use HTTP::Request::Common qw(POST);
use LWP::UserAgent;

my $url = "http://localhost/cgi-bin/display_passed_args.pl";

my $ua = new LWP::UserAgent();

my $request = POST $url, [
    test1 => "foo",
    test2 => "bar"
];

my $response = $ua->request($request);
print $response->as_string();
[download]

By using LWP, you get to focus on the request/response process at a higher level.