using <br /> to build columns – but renders as text – how build columns?

i need to build columns with breaks in them, like this:

item 123
item 124
item 125
item 126

but if i add a break in the text, the break is not recognized, rather it renders just as text like the following (spacing added in breaks to illustrate the point):

item 123< br / >item 124< br / >item 125< br / >item 126

how can i get the breaks to work so i can build a multicolums of category names?

thanks

https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/wens-responsive-column-layout-shortcodes/