Thanks so much i also could define poem structure like this: Using table method: \protected\def\PoemStart#1\PoemStop {\bTABLE[setups=tablepoem]#1\eTABLE} \protected\def\Beyt#1 {\bTR #1 \eTR} \protected\def\Misra#1 {\bTD #1 \eTD} \starttext \PoemStart \Beyt{\Misra{the first sentence} \Misra{the second sentence}} \Beyt{\Misra{the third sentence} \Misra{the fourth sentence}} \PoemStop \stoptext also it can be done with itemize(easier but less flexible): \defineitemgroup[Mypoem] \setupitemgroup[Mypoem][horizontal,two] \protected\def\PoemStart#1\PoemStop {\startitemgroup[Mypoem]#1\stopitemgroup} \protected\def\Misra#1 {\startitem#1\stopitem} \starttext \PoemStart \Misra{the first sentence} \Misra{the second sentence} \Misra{the third sentence} \Misra{the fourth sentence} \PoemStop \stoptext there is also another method by using buffers and lua code (part of the answer to my question on the stack site).