Update: Sorry, I read too fast your question. I'm OT, but you don't have to d/L perl-5-2.14.2.tar (port command do it for you) and you don't have to Configure

FIY, my $PATH

echo $PATH
/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/loca
+l/bin:/usr/X11/bin
[download]

Original (wrong) answer:
First, you have native perl with mac osx: perl v5.10.0 on mac osx 10.6.8
(no need to use macports). But, if want to proffit of macports packages system, you can use a perl package:

perl5                          @5.12.3         lang/perl5
perl5.10                       @5.10.1         lang/perl5.10
perl5.12                       @5.12.3         lang/perl5.12
perl5.14                       @5.14.1         lang/perl5.14
perl5.8                        @5.8.9          lang/perl5.8
[download]

Pick your choice. You can also choose some variants:

perl5.14 has the variants:
   dtrace: Build with DTrace probes
   shared: Build shared perl library
   threads: Build with thread support
   universal: Build for multiple architectures
[download]

Remember you'll have 2 perls:

/usr/bin/perl (native)
/opt/local/bin/perl (macports)
[download]

Of course, you can also install other distributions or compile your own perl...

PS: Macports perl installation:  port install perl5