For poetry that has non-regular indentations, I simply 
\definelines[poem] and set that up the way I want, obviously, with 
\setuplines[poem]  e.g. [before={\blank 
\setupinterlinespace[line=2.5ex]},after={\blank},indenting=first].

And then, but I guess it is still a hack, I use \hskip at a suitable 
dimension whenever I need indented lines:

\startpoem
This is line one,
\hskip1em{This is line two}
This is line three,
\hskip1em{This is line four,}
\hskip1em{This is line five.}

\rightaligned{Poet's name}
\stoppoem

Julian

On 11/1/22 1:01 pm, Youssef Cherem via ntg-context wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I needed to typeset some poetry and noticed that
>
> \startlines[space=on]
>
> Some line with tab % doesn't work, no spaces added
>
> Some line with spaces %work
>
> \stoplines
>
> Is there a way to make the "tab" render the space "as is"?
>
>
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