Yes, this works. I've used the technique to write documented lists:

my @items = map { /^=item (.*)/ ? $1 : () } split /\n/, <<'=cut';

=begin

=over 4

=item Hello

The first item must always be C<Hello>

=item World

The second item must always be C<World>

=back

=cut

print "Items: @items\n";
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