<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <meta charset="utf-8"> <style> body>div { margin: 50px 20px; width: 120px; height: 150px; border: 5px solid blue; } .vrl { writing-mode: vertical-rl; } .rel { position: relative; } span { display: inline-block; padding: 5px; block-size: 1.5em; border: 2px solid red; } p { position: absolute; margin: 0; padding: 2px; border: 2px solid green; } </style> <body> <div class="vrl rel"> <div><span>abc def</span><p>xyzzy</p></div> </div>