JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<p>foo</p><p>bar</p>
    <p>foo2</p><p>bar2</p>
    <p></p><p></p>
    <p>foo4</p><p>bar4</p>
    <p></p><p></p>

CSS

p {
  display: inline-block;
  width: 50%;
  margin: 0;
}

p:nth-child(even) {
  text-align: left;
  background: red;
}

p:nth-child(odd) {
  text-align: right;
  background: blue;
}
p:empty {
  display: none;
}