why does every f___ poem mention the ocean?

Now, now, don't panic, that really didn't come from me. It's a line from "Half-Life" by Erica Jong. It was kinda liberating to read that, but I still couldn't bear to write the f-word here, lest, someday my dear kids might read this.

But I have been wondering about the same thing, why does the ocean get mentioned so often in poems? At least, in mine, they do. In another blog, I actually wrote that I feel an affinity to the sea, although, for the life of me, I could barely swim in a pool.

What is it about the sea or the ocean that draws us in?

"The ocean disentangles the netted mind." - John O'Donohue

"Down here, by the sea, there is a special quality to the silence of the night." - John Banville