I was a Perl dev a long time ago, and I think it made me a stronger coder. I still miss it, and I've not coded Perl for real in a decade.
You're correct about "over-the-top cleverness and arcane constructs" being a problem, but it's also about using code as communication. We code in _languages_, and on one extreme is coding newpaper style - lowest common linguistic denominator. On a good day this is a common, understandable language, and on a bad day it is trying to communicate with stilted baby talk. On the other extreme is dense linguistic cleverness. On a good day this is nuanced yet clear and informative, on a bad day it is James Joyce.
As coders we like to talk about using the right tool for the job, but in code we so often assume that the most stilted repetative pattern is always best. It often is - like newspapers, we can't (or shouldn't) assume our audience is well-versed in our material. But we have other constraints as well. I often argue in favor of _skimmability_ over _readability_ of code. That means that the attention/focus of the eye is important. Stilted languages with minimal syntax give you almost no control over that. More fluid languages like Perl give you a lot more flexibility. Learning to use that flexibility to increase clarity...for MOST people, not just for yourself...is a skill that most of us have only limited practice at, and none of us have mastered.
But it's a good idea to work at it, and when done well you communicate MORE with LESS, and it's something people notice because it's not buried in the midst of visual noise.