multiple content columns twenty twelve

Hi, I’d like to have 3 columns with two of them displaying the most recent posts. The first column, for example, would display the most recent “articles” and the second column would display the most recent “poetry.” The third column would just be a sidebar and I don’t really need help with that. Should I build a new page template for the home page – individual articles/poems would be on their own standard looking blog page – ? If I build a new template for the homepage displaying content in this manner what would I add to the loop to have the two columns displaying their respective most recent posts?

TIA! (Yes, using a child theme!)
*I’d rather not use a plugin if possible since they disappear on you sometimes.