I ended up installing expat from current code, then installs of XML::Parser and XML::Simple from CPAN went flawlessly.

/me is a happy boy.   Thanks to arturo for good advice, and epoptai for the excellent framechat - it's more than worth the effort of a installing a couple modules and libraries.
    cheers,
    Don
    bumbling toward Perl Adept
    (it's pronounced "why-bick")